Burying Beetles can detect a dead bird or small mammal from eight kilometres away. Without the corpse, they cannot breed. After finding a suitable body — a dead mouse, for instance — adult Burying Beetles will mate and then bury the corpse. The female lays her eggs in the pit and then both adults will shape the decaying animal into a lump of matter. When the eggs hatch, the beetle larvae feed on the dead rodent then burrow through the soil and emerge as adults to complete the cycle. Read more about this species in Extraordinary Animals.Beetles use dead mouse for baby food
Burying Beetles can detect a dead bird or small mammal from eight kilometres away. Without the corpse, they cannot breed. After finding a suitable body — a dead mouse, for instance — adult Burying Beetles will mate and then bury the corpse. The female lays her eggs in the pit and then both adults will shape the decaying animal into a lump of matter. When the eggs hatch, the beetle larvae feed on the dead rodent then burrow through the soil and emerge as adults to complete the cycle. Read more about this species in Extraordinary Animals.