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Beetle feeding habits

specialize on carrion need powerful senses to

detect it and good mobility in order to get to it

quickly. Usually they are attracted by the smell of

decay, which means that bacteria and fungi are

already established on the carrion. Some carrion

beetles, for example Silphidae, treat the carrion

on arrival with antibacterial and antifungal

secretions to discourage microbial growth and

keep it fresh for use by their own larvae. Many

carrion beetles also carry on their bodies phoretic

(that is, hitchhiking, nonparasitic) mites, which

are flightless and use the beetles as a vehicle to get

to the carrion. They then benefit the beetles by

DEAD ANIMAL TISSUE

Beetles are often called “recyclers” or “nature’s

cleanup crew” because so many of them play a

role in consuming or generally clearing up dung,

dead plants, and animals. However, the whole

concept of “ecosystem services” is somewhat

anthropocentric. The beetles are not serving a

preordained useful function but are simply taking

advantage of a nutritious resource. The fact that

we should be grateful for this, and may actually

depend on this recycling of nutrients for our

continued existence, is purely fortuitous.

Of the dead materials that different groups of

beetles feed on, decaying animal matter is one

of the most digestible and, like dung, is thinly

distributed in the environment. Beetles that

below | Dermestes maculatus (Dermestidae) Larvae of this

hide beetle are used to clean the flesh from a vole skull for

a vertebrate collection at University of California, Berkeley.