BURYING BEETLE, Necrophorus, a genus of coleopterous (q.v.) insects, of the tribe or family silphale8, with short cub-shaped antennte, remarkable for their habit of bury ing the bodies of mice, moles, and other small animals, in order to deposit their eggs in them, and to provide a supply of food for their larvae. Some of the species are natives of Britain, ai which is .N. respillo, the species of which the habits were first observed, which is, however, more common iu some parts of continental Europe. It is a black beetle, about an inch long, with two bright orange bands acmss its back, and having an excessively fetid smell, which long adheres to whatever it touches. Its sense of smell would seem to be extremely acute, and a dead animal soon attracts it, a pair generally arriving together, male and female, to feed upon the body, and the male to proceed to its interment, if sufficiently small, previous to which, however, they have sometimes to drag it to some distance to a ptace suitable for their purpose. The head of the insect is
the only tool employed in the operation, and is held sloping outwards, and employed in a mariner which exhibits great muscular power. A furrow is first made around the body, then another within the first, and so on till the earth is so excavated from beneath, that the body begins to sink, when the insects, by great efforts, drag it down into the hole, and when it is fairly in, the excavated earth is thrown back over it. The female then lays her eggs in it; and when this is accomplished, and the cravings of appetite are satisfied, it is left for the larvae, which are of a lengthened form, with six feet, whitish, and a brown head.—The known species of B. B. are mostly native of Europe and of North America.