I have an endangered species bug in my house -- ick!

Plot Device · Apr 28, 2008

Shall I kill it?

I'm not too keen on bugs in general, and this bug is no execption (endangered or not).

It's called a "carrion beetle" and it eats dead animals. It used to range across 35 US states, but is now only found in Rhode Island and Oklahoma (I'm in Massachusetts).

I really have no interest in this ugly, flithy little creature. I'd prefer to just squash it.

The only reason I even know all this is I went onto the net to find out if he was a roach of some kind. He's not. Regardless, I don't want him around.

Haggis · Apr 28, 2008

Plot Device said:
Shall I kill it?

I'm not too keen on bugs in general, and this bug is no execption (endangered or not).

It's called a "carrion beetle" and it eats dead animals. It used to range across 35 US states, but is now only found in Rhode Island and Oklahoma (I'm in Massachusetts).

I really have no interest in this ugly, flithy little creature. I'd prefer to just squash it.

The only reason I even know all this is I went onto the net to find out if he was a roach of some kind. He's not. Regardless, I don't want him around.

If it's only found in Rhode Island and Oklahoma, and if you're in Massachusetts, then obviously it can't be where you are. Ergo, you may kill it.

Siddow · Apr 28, 2008

If you don't kill it, then it will think you're dead when you go to sleep and it will eat you.

Jersey Chick · Apr 28, 2008

Squish it.

James81 · Apr 28, 2008

Hold it for ransom.

"Either I get a million in cold cash or the bug meets my size 13 boot!"

althrasher · Apr 28, 2008

Is it male or female?

icerose · Apr 28, 2008

Take it to your local community college or university, alive in a jar, they will be better equiped to deal with an endangered specimen.

Plot Device · Apr 28, 2008

althrasher said:
Is it male or female?

I'm not about to check under its tail.

(BTW--read between the lines of the "copyright" declaration. Har har.)

.

althrasher · Apr 28, 2008

Just shoo it outside. Then, even if it dies, it's not really your fault.

Haggis · Apr 28, 2008

You could always get an endangered bird to eat it.

aka eraser · Apr 28, 2008

I'm with icerose. Or at least catch it and release it outside somewhere. Don't kill it though.

Gehanna · Apr 28, 2008

So, what kind of dead animal do you have in your house?

:tongue

Gehanna

Plot Device · Apr 28, 2008

icerose said:
Take it to your local community college or university, alive in a jar, they will be better equiped to deal with an endangered specimen.

Hmm. Good idea. (It IS in a jar right now, afterall.)

Let me see who might be interested. And if NOBODY wants it ...

Stew21 · Apr 28, 2008

Send it to Frank. Frank, you can use it as a model. I bet if you made a lure that looked like that bug, the bass would be fighting for the opportunity to have the rare treat. Just imagine all the fish fighting to the chance to eat a bug they never get to see anymore - rare delicacy.

James81 · Apr 28, 2008

Haggis said:
You could always get an endangered bird to eat it.

And an endangered cat to eat the bird.

Now that you mention it, I knew an old lady who swallowed an endangered fly...I don't know why she swallowed an endangered fly, but that bitch is going to jail.

Haggis · Apr 28, 2008

James81 said:
And an endangered cat to eat the bird.

Now that you mention it, I knew an old lady who swallowed an endangered fly...I don't know why she swallowed an endangered fly, but that bitch is going to jail.

I'm feeling a folk song coming on.

CDarklock · Apr 28, 2008

Plot Device said:
It's called a "carrion beetle"

Oh, God, no. Carrion beetles are amazing creatures.

Definitely, take it to a local college. Call around, find a good entomology department. If I were anywhere near you, I'd be planning a road trip to come take it off your hands, just to make sure it was treated with proper reverence.

I like bugs. Does it show?

Namatu · Apr 28, 2008

Euw. I'd say kill it, but lately I've been trying to let them live by dumping them outside.

Plot Device · Apr 30, 2008

Okay, guys .... I e-mailed the Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences people at the University of Massachusetts up in Amherst. (I think one of the AW mods who hangs in the B&BC forums lives in Amehrst.)

Below is the full e-mail exchange (very humorous) minus people's names and e-mail addresses.

----------------

Hi Jeff,

Thanks so much for the informative (and entertaining!) response. (I will never watch CSI again without thinking of this e-mail!)

I will gladly toss him over the back fence of my yard which (incidentally) borders a cemetery. (And no, I have no cats--certainly not 80!)

I suspect the semester is over for all of you now. So please have a good summer.

--[Plot Device]

Jeff******@psis.umass.edu wrote:
Hi [Plot Device],

Good ID! What you have is a very common carrion beetle, Oiceoptoma noveboracense, which is common in spring as it takes advantage of winter killed animals, which it uses to rear its young on and feed on. It is not endangered, but thanks for checking. It gets confusing with carrion beetles because a close look alike of your beetle has yellow instead of red behind the head and is called Necrophila americana, (this beetle is also common-- but has a name very similar to the American burrying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus, which is extremely rare in MA). The last population of N. americanus beetles in the Northeast is on Block Island in MA and is very much of concern to entomologists like me. There are only a few other populations left of this beetle in the Midwest. No one is quite sure why this beetle has disappeared so fast, it was once very widespread all over New England and in the Midwest. But there is an effort to maintain this last population, and the Nongame wildlife fund on you tax check offs helps support this rare population. So great that you checked, but yours is a very common species.

Your species is very beneficial. It helps clean up road kills alone the highways and they have even been used in real "CSI type" court cases. There is a branch of the FBI, forensic entomology- like Dr. Grissom on CSI- that study using carrion beetles and flies to help tell the time of death in murders. The FBI even have a place in TN called the body farm where they study how long it takes for insects to find and develop in a body to aid in crime scene work. So I would just set it free outside so it can get on with its detective work.

If you found this beetle in your house, it may have been just overwintering in the warmth of your place, or you may have had a dead mouse or something in your walls that lured it in...in which case you might find more beetles if they were able to breed on the mouse. They can smell the dead from a long way off, arrive on dead animals within hours of death, and dispose of it before you even know it was there. But they can also be attracted to any type of decaying proteins, such as rancid peanut butter in a mouse trap? If, by chance, you are one of those crazy cat ladies that has 80 cats, then you might want to do a head count to see if one might be missing in the cellar? In which case the beetle is the least of your problems, and in which case you might want to keep the beetle in the house? Just a thought. Otherwise you can set this one free. It is native and beneficial.

But thanks for checking.

Jeff ******
Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences
Room 115 Ag. Eng. Bld.
250 Natural Resources Road
UMASS-Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003

Jeff*****@psis.umass.edu

Hi

Quoting [email protected]:

> Dear PSIS Entomologists,
>
> Can anyone save this bug's life? Please see the EMail below, and respond
> directly to [Plot Device] at:
>
> [Plot Device’s e-mail address]
>
> and CC us for our records at:
>
> [email protected]
>
> Thanks!
>
> PSIS Mail
>
>
> ----- Forwarded message from [Plot Device] -----
> Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:25:27 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: I think I have an endangered species bug in my house
> To: [email protected]
>
> Hi,
>
> It's JUST one bug. I've no idea if it's male or female.
>
> I'm not a "bug" person, just an average citizen. I found it today in my house (I'm in Springfield, MA) and was afraid it was maybe a cockroach so I was going to kill it. But it looked a little bit odd to me, so I went to the web to see what it REALLY was. After finding out it MIGHT be a "carrion beetle" (aka a "burying beetle") I was urged by an acquanitance to contact an entomologist just in case this might be something worth noting. If you say it's not, then I'm getting rid of it (read: "killing it").

This Google image is pretty much what it looks like:

http://i.pbase.com/g6/59/68959/3/79774301.mO0HA0gm.jpg

I did find on the web other photos showing variations on this same beetle --especially varieties with LOTS of red spots. But the one I have only has red on those head plate things and the rest of him is black.

According to the different web sites I went through, there are several North American varieties of this bug that are on the endangered species list, and that's why my acquaintance said I should contact an entomologist. However, I need to very firmly state that:

a) I have no idea if what I have REALLY IS a burying beetle (might be something entirely different and/or unremarkable like a boxelder bug, and I just don't know any better)

and

b) even if it is a burying beetle, I don't know for certain if the particular type I caught is one of the endangered kind.
So it's possible I might be wasting your time here.

I also want to make it clear that I am NOT trying to SELL him, just looking to either hand him off (for free) to you, or else to get permission to just squash him (if it turns out he's a common bug like a boxelder). If you are interested, please let me know and I'll try to get him/her/it to you so you can see it/confirm it/record it.

I regret I have no digital camera or camera phone to take a photo of it. But if you say this is somehow worthwhile to science, I'll borrow a camera from a friend so I can e-mail an image to you before driving up to Amherst.

Regards.

--[Plot Device]
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
>
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DWSTXS · Apr 30, 2008

Haggis said:
You could always get an endangered bird to eat it.

If an endangered bird ate it...it would eventually become endangered poop. Which no one would be allowed to step in.

Or, knowing my luck, I would never be allowed to wash it off my car!

HeronW · Apr 30, 2008

You've a CSI star and you're going to dump it?! :}

RumpleTumbler · Apr 30, 2008

Why not just let it go on the lawn somewhere?

If it comes back then kill it.

C.bronco · Apr 30, 2008

Hi Plot Device!
I say sell it at auction.

mscelina · Apr 30, 2008

Another Celinaism to suit the occasion:

"The only good bug is a spot on the floor."

I have an endangered species bug in my house -- ick!

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