I've been spending an inordinate amount of time rescuing these Burying Beetles (Nicrophorus carolinus) from the swimming pool this week. I cannot rest thinking about them struggling around for hours and eventually drowning.
They are not the smartest of creatures. As soon as they catch their breath on my hand they fly back into the pool. I have considered covering the pool so I don't have to complete this task for 30 minutes 2x day. I've started taking them far from the pool to recover from their near-drowning. . . hoping that they don't come back. Regardless, tonight there were dozens struggling in the water at dusk. I rescued them all and moved them away from the pool, again.
Burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus) utilize small vertebrate carcasses which can be quickly buried or rolled down a hole and concealed. Because carrion is also used by other invertebrates and vertebrates, burying beetles are in competition with species of a wide variety of taxa for access to carcasses.
Scott, Traniello and Fetherston (of Boston University) studied resource competition between burying beetles and ants and found—in brief—that because of invasive fire ant proliferation in Florida burying beetles were in decline. From my experience with fire ants on these sand hills . . . one cannot even leave out a bowl of pet food for more than 30 minutes before the ants have swarmed the bowl. They are impossible to control so we do our best to avoid the ants and feed the stray animals on table tops where it takes the ants more time to reach the food.
For that reason I was quite surprised to find so many of these beetles suddenly in our area which is prime fire ant habitat.
Both species of this black beetle with orange spots (and orange dots at the end of the antennae) are attracted to carrion, and intrasexual competition occurs within each sex until usually only one male and female remain on a carcass. The pair then move the corpse; both sexes dig beneath the dead animal to bury it. They then remove any feathers or fur, and roll it into a ball which they then treat with bodily secretions.
Following burial the female rapidly lays approximately 30 eggs in the nearby soil which hatch into larvae that are fed regurgitated food by both parents. The larvae are soon capable of feeding from the corpse directly, but may also receive food from their parents throughout development.
About 2 weeks after burial, the larvae leave the burial chamber and pupate in the soil nearby. Usually at least one parent remains with the larvae until they disperse.
Road to Rio
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che ragazzo d'oro
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and if you're thinking of going to Rio. . .
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Olympic Trivia:
LETHAL BUZZERS
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Among the planet's 3,000 mosquito species, here are a few offenders that can transmit diseases to humans, such as the Zika virus.
Olympic Trivia:
Matthew Mitcham performs a near-perfect 6th dive to receive gold, ending China's dream of a clean sweep of all diving golds. Mitcham produces the highest scoring dive in Olympic history (112.10), a sensational back two and a half somersault with two and a half twists, finishing with an overall 537.95. Mitcham becomes the 1st male Australian diver to win gold since 1924. Diving 10m Platform Men's Final - Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics - Matthew Mitcham (AUS), Zhou Luxin (CHN), Gleb Galperin (RUS) 8/23/2008 12:00:00 AM
And for fun, a little more trivia:
The book gets 5-star reviews
on Amazon "Twists and Turns"