Scavengers

20 species with this diet

Diptera

Alpine Snow Fly

Chionea lutescens

A yellowish wingless crane fly found on snow in alpine regions. It breeds in soil beneath the snowpack where larvae feed...

Hymenoptera

Arctic Ant

Leptothorax acervorum

A tiny, reddish-brown ant that forms small colonies under stones and in wood crevices in boreal and subarctic regions. C...

Coleoptera

Australian Water Scavenger Beetle

Sternolophus marginicollis

A medium-sized water scavenger beetle found throughout Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. It is attracted to lights ...

Hymenoptera

Chilean Dolichoderine Ant

Dorymyrmex goetschi

A South American cone ant found in arid regions of Chile and Argentina. It builds small cone-shaped mounds and is an imp...

Coleoptera

Clown Beetle

Hister unicolor

A small, shiny black beetle with a compact, rounded body. It is a predator of fly larvae found in dung and decaying matt...

Diptera

Common Compost Hoverfly

Syritta pipiens

A tiny, slender hoverfly with distinctively swollen hind femora and a darting flight pattern. It breeds in compost heaps...

Coleoptera

Four-spotted Rove Beetle

Drusilla canaliculata

A small, flattened aleocharine rove beetle with a distinctive channeled pronotum and brownish coloration. It is frequent...

Coleoptera

Golden Ant Guest Beetle

Pella funesta

A small aleocharine rove beetle that lives at the periphery of Lasius ant nests, feeding on refuse and dead ants. It use...

Diptera

Hornet Hoverfly

Volucella zonaria

Europe's largest hoverfly and a convincing hornet mimic with bold yellow-and-brown banding. Its larvae develop as scaven...

Diptera

Japanese Soldier Fly

Ptecticus tenebrifer

A slender soldier fly with a metallic greenish-black body and elongate antennae. It is commonly found near decaying orga...

Diptera

Latrine Fly

Fannia scalaris

A small fly that breeds in excrement and decaying organic matter in latrines and drains. It can cause urogenital myiasis...

Diptera

Lesser House Fly

Fannia canicularis

A small greyish fly often seen flying in circles beneath ceiling lights indoors. It breeds in decaying organic matter an...

Coleoptera

Lesser Silver Water Beetle

Hydrochara flavipes

A medium-sized water scavenger beetle found in still waters across East Asia. Its legs have distinctive yellowish tarsi....

Diptera

Pellucid Hoverfly

Volucella pellucens

A large black hoverfly with a striking translucent white band across its abdomen. Its larvae are inquilines in the under...

Grylloblattodea

Rock Crawler

Grylloblatta bifratrilecta

A pale wingless insect living on high-altitude ice and snowfields. It is active only at near-freezing temperatures....

Coleoptera

Rugose Rove Beetle

Anotylus rugosus

A small, dark oxytelline rove beetle with a heavily rugose (wrinkled) surface texture. It is extremely common in dung an...

Coleoptera

Sexton Rove Beetle

Quedius dilatatus

A broad, somewhat flattened rove beetle found in the nests of social wasps and in tree hollows containing decaying insec...

Hymenoptera

Spalangia Fly Parasite

Spalangia cameroni

A small dark wasp that parasitizes fly pupae in manure and decaying organic matter. It is commercially reared for biolog...

Diptera

Spotted Crane Fly

Nephrotoma appendiculata

A brightly marked yellow-and-black crane fly common across European meadows. Its leatherjacket larvae develop in soil, f...

Coleoptera

Yellow-Margined Water Scavenger Beetle

Hydrochara caraboides

A large dark water scavenger beetle with yellowish margins on the pronotum. It inhabits well-vegetated ponds and is decl...