Bug FAQAmerican Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus americanus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Staphylinidae
Also called: giant carrion beetle
The American burying beetle is a critically endangered carrion beetle native to North America. Historically it was recorded in 35 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Adults are 25 to 45 mm long, shiny black, and have distinctive orange-red markings on the pronotum and on each wing cover.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s body is shiny black and each wing cover bears two scalloped orange-red spots. A single orange-red mark on the pronotum sets it apart from all other North American Nicrophorus species.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults range from 25 to 45 millimetres (about 1 to 1.8 inches) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It is carnivorous, feeding on carrion and needing carrion to breed.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
When temperatures drop below 15 °C (60 °F), adults bury themselves in soil to overwinter. An adult lives for only about twelve months.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is endemic to North America and is listed as critically endangered. Historical records show it once lived in 35 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 25 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How big does an American burying beetle get?
Adults measure between 25 and 45 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is the American burying beetle found?
It is native to North America, historically recorded in many U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and parts of Canada.
Source: Wikipedia
What does the American burying beetle eat?
It feeds on carrion and requires carrion to reproduce.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Staphylinidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicrophorus_americanus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.