American burying beetle  (Nicrophorus americanus)

Authentication

Authenticated (8/5/03) by Brett Ratcliffe, University of Nebraska.
http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/index.htm

Glossary

  • Elytra: in beetles and earwigs, the hard fore wings. They are held aloft when the insect flies, and are often coloured or patterned.
  • Larvae: stage in an animal's lifecycle after it hatches from the egg. Larvae are typically very different in appearance to adults; they are able to feed and move around but usually are unable to reproduce.
  • Pronotum: in insects, the hardened cuticle on the upper surface of the first thoracic segment (the part of the body nearest the head).
  • Pupate: the process of forming a pupa, the stage in an insect's development, when huge changes occur that reorganise the larval form into the adult form. In butterflies the pupa is also called a chrysalis.

References

  1. IUCN Red List (April, 2003) www.redlist.org
  2. University of Nebraska State Museum (April, 2003) http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/index.htm
  3. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (April, 2003) http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/servlet/gov.doi.species_profile.servlets.SpeciesProfile?spcode=I028
left