Margined burying beetle
Nicrophorus marginatus
The margined burying beetle is a shiny black beetle with red-orange bands across its back. The tips of its feelers are orange clubs. Like other burying beetles, it is nature's little undertaker.
Lives in
North America
Length
1.2 to 2.8 cm (0.47 to 1.1 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not sting. Wash your hands if you touch one, because it works with dead things.
What does it eat?
Burying beetles eat dead animals and feed them to their young.
How big is it?
How long is it?
๐as long as 5 grains of rice in a row๐ฝ๏ธcould run across a dinner table in 5.3 seconds
How big is Margined burying beetle compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Margined burying beetle about 0.68 km/h (0.42 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It can be anything from about 1.2 to 2.8 centimetres long.
2
Burying beetles bury small dead animals underground as food for their babies.
3
It was first described in 1801.
you asked
Most asked questions about Margined burying beetle
?What does the margined burying beetle eat?
It eats dead animals, which it buries to feed its young.
?How big is the margined burying beetle?
It is about 1.2 to 2.8 centimetres long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Nicrophorus marginatus
- Named by
- Fabricius, 1801
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Silphidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Silphidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Margined sexton beetle, Red and black burying beetle
Where the facts come from
- Nicrophorus marginatus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Flickr user Petrified Forest. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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