Bug FAQLesser Vespillo Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus vespilloides · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Staphylinidae
The Lesser Vespillo Burying Beetle ranges from about 12 to 20 mm in length and shows two bright orange-yellow bands on its wing covers. It lives in many settings, including woodlands, heathlands, parks and gardens, across the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions, reaching into northern USA and much of southern Canada. Adults locate small vertebrate carcasses, bury them, and later feed their larvae with pre-digested flesh.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Two conspicuous orange-yellow bands run across each elytron. The antennae are entirely black.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Body length varies between 12 mm and 20 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in dense woodlands, open heathlands, landscaped parks and residential gardens.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Both adults and larvae rely on buried vertebrate carcasses for food, with parents providing pre-digested material to the young.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Parents work together to bury a suitable carcass before laying eggs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Occurs throughout the Palaearctic and Nearctic realms, including northern United States and most of southern Canada. Its wide distribution shows it can adapt to many environmental conditions.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
Its reproductive behavior is similar to that of its sister species, Nicrophorus nepalensis.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 11 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Alaska, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Louisiana, New York, Tennessee, Maine.
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
What do Lesser Vespillo Burying Beetles eat?
They locate small vertebrate carcasses, bury them, and the adults feed the larvae with pre-digested flesh from those carcasses.
Source: Wikipedia
Where might I find this beetle?
You can spot them in woodlands, heathlands, parklands and even garden areas across northern North America and much of the Palaearctic region.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Staphylinidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicrophorus_vespilloides
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.