Carrion Feeders
42 species with this diet
American Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus americanus
The largest carrion beetle in North America, once widespread but now reduced to less than 10% of its historic range. Bot...
Armored Ground Cricket
Acanthoplus discoidalis
A large heavily armored katydid with sharp spines on its thorax and legs. It is flightless and moves in large migratory ...
Australian Sheep Blowfly
Calliphora augur
A large, dark blue blow fly endemic to Australia with a distinctive orange face and cheeks. It is one of the earliest co...
Black Blow Fly
Phormia regina
A dark metallic blow fly that is among the first insects to colonize a corpse. It is a key species in forensic entomolog...
Black Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus humator
A large all-black burying beetle with orange-tipped antennae. It buries animal carcasses for its larvae....
Black Carrion Beetle
Necrodes littoralis
A large, dark carrion beetle with ridged elytra and a distinctive lumpy thorax. It is associated with larger carcasses w...
Black Sexton Beetle
Necrophorus vespilloides
A remarkable burying beetle that locates small animal carcasses using acute sense of smell. Pairs work together to bury ...
Blue Bottle Fly
Calliphora vomitoria
A large, metallic blue fly with a loud buzzing flight and prominent bristly body. It is one of the first insects to arri...
Bluebottle Fly
Calliphora vicina
A common metallic blue blowfly found in urban areas worldwide. Breeds in dead pigeons, rodents and meat. An important sp...
Carrion Parasitoid Wasp
Alysia manducator
A small braconid wasp that parasitizes blowfly larvae in carrion. An important part of the decomposition ecosystem. Fema...
Common Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus vespillo
A large orange-and-black beetle that buries small animal carcasses for its larvae. Uses chemical cues to locate corpses ...
Copper-Bottom Blow Fly
Lucilia cuprina
A metallic green-gold blow fly that is the most destructive cause of sheep blowfly strike in Australia and South Africa....
Desert Fire Ant
Solenopsis aurea
A golden-colored fire ant native to the deserts of the American Southwest. It builds inconspicuous nests in sandy soil a...
Dor Rove Beetle
Ontholestes murinus
A large, mottled gray and brown rove beetle commonly found on dung and carrion. Its speckled pattern provides camouflage...
Eastern Yellowjacket
Vespula maculifrons
A common ground-nesting yellowjacket with bold black and yellow banding on its abdomen. It builds large paper nests unde...
Flat Silphid Beetle
Silpha tristis
A flattened, all-black silphid beetle with three raised ridges on each wing case. It feeds on snails and caterpillars ra...
Flesh Fly
Sarcophaga carnaria
A large gray fly with three black longitudinal stripes on the thorax and a checkered abdomen. Unlike most flies, females...
German Scorpionfly
Panorpa germanica
A scorpionfly with bold wing markings found in shaded woodland habitats across central Europe. Like other Panorpa specie...
Green Bottle Fly
Lucilia sericata
A brilliant metallic green fly with large red compound eyes. Medically, its sterile larvae are used in maggot debridemen...
Hairy Wood Ant
Formica lugubris
A large mound-building ant of upland coniferous forests with noticeably hairy body surfaces. It forms polydomous colonie...
Hump-backed Fly
Megaselia scalaris
A tiny scuttle fly with a distinctly humped thorax that breeds in an extraordinary range of organic matter. It is forens...
Margined Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus marginatus
A burying beetle with thin orange marginal bands along the edges of its elytra. It is common in open grasslands and prai...
Meat Ant
Iridomyrmex purpureus
A large iridescent blue-black ant that is one of Australia's most dominant and ecologically important ant species. It bu...
Metallic Hister Beetle
Saprinus semistriatus
A small beetle with a metallic blue-green sheen found on carrion and sun-dried carcasses. It is frequently used in foren...
Mormon Cricket
Anabrus simplex
A large, flightless shield-backed katydid native to western North America. Despite its name it is not a true cricket but...
Nigerian Driver Ant
Dorylus nigricans
A large driver ant species with massive soldier caste bearing sickle-shaped mandibles. Raiding columns can stretch over ...
North American Hide Beetle
Trox scaber
A small, oval, grayish-brown beetle with heavily sculptured elytra covered in rows of bumps and encrusted soil. It speci...
Omorgus Hide Beetle
Omorgus suberosus
A medium-sized, rough-surfaced hide beetle with a brown to grey body covered in soil-encrusted tubercles. It is found in...
Purple Emperor
Apatura iris
A majestic woodland butterfly whose males display an intense iridescent purple sheen visible only at certain angles. It ...
Red-Breasted Carrion Beetle
Oiceoptoma thoracicum
A flattened black beetle with a broad, reddish-orange thorax found on carrion. Unlike burying beetles, it does not bury ...
Red-Lined Carrion Beetle
Necrodes surinamensis
A dark, flattened carrion beetle with reddish markings on the tips of its elytra. It is one of the first beetles to arri...
Round-Necked Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus orbicollis
A medium-sized burying beetle with orange-red markings and a distinctly rounded thorax. It is one of the most common Nic...
Rugose Carrion Beetle
Thanatophilus rugosus
A small, dark silphid with heavily textured, rugose wing cases. It frequents sun-exposed carrion in open landscapes....
Satellite Flesh Fly
Sarcophaga africa
A tropical flesh fly that deposits larvae on carcasses and open wounds. It can cause myiasis in livestock and occasional...
Secondary Screwworm Fly
Cochliomyia macellaria
A blow fly that breeds in carrion and occasionally infests wounds in livestock. It is widely used in forensic studies in...
Sexton Beetle
Nicrophorus vespilloides
A black and orange carrion beetle that buries small animal carcasses as food for its larvae. Both parents care for the b...
Subarctic Flesh Fly
Sarcophaga nigriventris
A medium-sized gray fly with black longitudinal stripes on the thorax and a checkered abdomen. Unlike most flies, female...
Tumblebug Beetle
Canthon vigilans
A small dung beetle that buries carrion as well as dung for its larvae....
Tundra Blow Fly
Protophormia terraenovae
A metallic dark blue blow fly common across Arctic and subarctic regions. It is one of the first flies to become active ...
Verrucarum Sandfly
Lutzomyia verrucarum
A small sandfly found in the inter-Andean valleys of Peru, serving as the vector of Bartonella bacilliformis, which caus...
Western Yellowjacket
Vespula pensylvanica
The most common yellowjacket in western North America with a distinctive diamond-shaped black mark on its first abdomina...
Yellow-Clubbed Burying Beetle
Nicrophorus investigator
A burying beetle distinguished by its orange-tipped antennal clubs and broad orange elytral bands. It is found across th...