Black gravedigger
| Black gravedigger | ||||||||||||
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Black gravedigger ( Nicrophorus humator ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Nicrophorus humator | ||||||||||||
| ( Gleditsch , 1767) |
The black gravedigger ( Nicrophorus humator ) is a kind of gravedigger ( Nicrophorus ) from the family of carrion beetles (Silphidae).
features
The beetles are 18 to 26 millimeters long. Their bodies, especially the elytra and pronotum , are usually black in color; very rarely the animals have blood-red spots on the wings and forehead. The wings are slightly shorter than the abdomen , so leave the rearmost part of it free. The antennae are red-orange, very rarely they are also black. In contrast to the very similar species Nicrophorus germanicus , the epipleurs of the black gravedigger are not red, but black, and the similar species also has completely black antennae.
Similar species
Occurrence
The animals occur in the entire Palearctic north to the north of Denmark and the south of Scandinavia .
Way of life
Like all grave diggers, this type of carrion lives and uses carcasses that are buried by it as an egg-laying place. Sometimes you can also find the animals on mushrooms.
literature
- Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Beetles of Central and Northwestern Europe. Parey, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1 .
Web links
- Nicrophorus humator at Fauna Europaea. Retrieved February 18, 2011