Insect Portraits – a Carrion Beetle
December 4th 2019
Insect Portraits – a Carrion Beetle
This handsome carrion beetle, over 10mm long, was found by Gwen Richards on dog dung in her garden at Torbreck (NC0824) on 20th August 2019 (and photographed on a more salubrious background).
It belongs to the family Silphidae, the carrion, burying or sexton beetles, and is an example of the species Thanatophilus rugosus, for which there are no previous records from the north-west of Scotland, according to the NBN Atlas.
Other members of the family, the black, or black and orange, members of the genus Nicrophorus, are more familiar sights, on the corpses of birds or mammals, which they do indeed bury to provide food for their larvae. Thanatophilus rugosus is not a dung feeder as such; the attraction will have been the larvae of flies or other beetles which, thankfully, help to dispose of dung.
Ian M. Evans
Recent Sightings
Risso's Dolphin
Five animals c. 6km off Stoer Head Lighthouse (DAH) (19/06)
Common Dolphin
Seven animals c. 4km off Stoer Head Lighthouse (DAH) (19/06)
Common Blue Butterfly
Single butterfly in garden, 83 Torbreck (Gwen Richards) (19/06)
Lesser Redpoll
Single male bird on garden feeder, 81 Torbreck (Cheryl Smith). It has been an exceptional year for reports of Lesser Redpoll. (19/06)
Twite
Four birds, Bay of Culkein (Janet French). Photo Gallery - Birds (19/06)
Golden-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii)
Pair of dragonflies coupled in pre-mating flight, Culkein Drumbeg (DAH) (18/06)
Brimstone moth (Opisthograptis luteolata)
Single moth flying in trees, Culkein Drumbeg (DAH) (18/06)
Pied Wagtail
Adult bird feeding two juveniles, Culkein Drumbeg jetty area (Steve and Carol Langford) (17/06)
