Burying beetles

What are they? Burying beetles are members of the coleopteran family Silphidae (the carrion beetles) of the genus Nicrophorus. There are approximately 75 species in this Northern hemisphere genus. As for most other silphids, the use of vertebrate carrion is an essential part of a burying beetles life. But unlike other silphids, which use carrion primarily as an adult food source or somewhere to lay eggs, Nicrophorus beetles bury the carcasses. This 'grave-digging' behaviour gives them their common English name: Sexton beetles.