Common Sexton Beetle
TQ4793 30/08/2018 ©Raymond Small
Nicrophorus vespilloides
Carrion beetle (12mm) with distinctive orange patterning on the wing cases. This species has a beneficial relationship with mites that are sometimes seen hitching a lift around the neck.
Sextons look after churchyards and their chores include gravedigging hence the common name of this species. This species smells out carrion and digs underneath small animal carcasses so they sink into the soil which then becomes a food source for their hatching larvae.
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