Common Burying Beetle vs Southern Pine Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Burying Beetle Southern Pine Beetle
Scientific Name Nicrophorus vespillo Dendroctonus frontalis
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Silphidae Curculionidae
Size 12-22 mm 2-4 mm
Habitat Underground Forests
Diet Carrion Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions Europe Southeastern United States from Texas to Virginia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Common Burying Beetle

A large orange-and-black beetle that buries small animal carcasses for its larvae. Uses chemical cues to locate corpses from great distances. Shows remarkable parental care with both parents tending larvae.

💡

Did You Know?

Can bury a dead mouse completely underground in just a few hours by excavating soil from beneath the carcass.

Southern Pine Beetle

A tiny dark brown bark beetle that is the most destructive insect pest of southern pine forests. Infestations can kill thousands of trees in a single outbreak.

💡

Did You Know?

Its S-shaped larval galleries beneath the bark are so distinctive they can be used to identify the species.