I had read in an article this was the case, but have been unable to locate anything to refute or support this claim. I am looking for application of N. germanicus biology to N. americanus.
Thank you for the articles. I appreciate you providing them. And you provided one I didn't have. Although I am specifically looking for the interactions between dung beetles and Nicrophorus beetles.
I do not think there is a relationship between Nicrophorus and dung beetles. We have collected together when placed traps containing fish, but in that case of the "dung beetles", the species collected are necrophagous not coprophagous. Both necrophagous species may cohabit in cloud forest and may compete for the same resources.
Thanks Carmen. It is possible that the one paper I read, which promoted the view that Nicrophorus germanicus is a specialized predator of dung beetles may have been in error. But like you said, they are attracted to different resources so capturing them together I imagine would be rare, even in areas where they co-occur. I am looking for any interactions between N. germanicus or N. americanus and dung beetles.
No Anita, if both beetles compete for the same resourse, it may be possible that Nicrophorus attack the "dung beetle" because both are there but I think that Nicrophorus is not a predator of dung beetles, only they probably attack during competition for an available resouce during nesting. Would you tell me the name of the article you read please?
I wish I could remember which article had that in it. I'm sorry. It was maybe in one out of the Czech Republic but I was gathering literature at the time so I read a bunch of articles and can't remember which one it was in. When I locate that paper I will post it here. While not that paper, here is one that shows dung as preferred resource for N. germanicus. Although I do not work with germanicus I'm not so sure I believe that.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224579152_Large_carrion_beetles_Coleoptera_Silphidae_in_Western_Europe_A_review?ev=srch_pub&_sg=EaUWksNYcVC3AXUaXCfWqZcIEQrqQNnZ5OMfcfxfqgJV8jg3ikriea5v84wcAxRB.V-hhrRW7m31Gbvq83j1DCWmAtR-_ymJ2TPw8mRrbuJr7NIvbSCDj5rre5Nh86VRl.g8xAeruaZCjWC7WGU7QQOFvGkSI-7NOdPLDwTb4PkQNXTbp3YOLelTuUU_CFH_HW
Article Large carrion beetles (Coleoptera, Silphidae) in Western Eur...
Dear Anita,
My answer could be a little late, but maybe I can shed some light on this question on Nicrophorus germanicus and its relation with dung beetles. There are lots of articles and books in which it is mentioned that N. germanicus is attracted to dung where it’s claimed to hunt on dung beetles. None of these publications gives proof of this claim and only a few actually refer for this to another paper. As far as I know these entries are all based on the following statement given by Adolf Horion in FAUNISTIK DER MITTELEUROPÄISCHEN KÄFER Band II (1949):
“Die alte Beobachtung (Klingelhöffer: Stett. Ent. Ztg. 1843, 88), daß N. germanicus den Geotrupes im Pferdedung nachstellt, konnte Porte v in 1926 (p. 251) durch eigene Beobachtungen bestätigen. Dazu teilt H ü t her i. l. mit, daß er in Umg. Heidelberg öfters N. germanicus unter Pferdedung gef. habe, der immer viele Geotrupes-Reste (Flügeldecken, Beine usw.) enthielt; in der Pfalz bei Freinsheim fing er 8 Ex. von N. germanicus unter einem Papiersack am Wege, unter dem Menschenkot lag; viele zerstückelte Käfer, bes. Aphodien, wiesen hier auf die Tätigkeit der Necrophorus hin.”
As far as I’m concerned, these are all anecdotal entries lacking further evidence. Adults of Nicrophorus sp. normally hunt for insects and their larvae on carrion and I think that a shortage of carrion to hunt on could necessitate adults to hunt insects elsewhere. Dung is, as carrion, a protein rich substrate where high densities of other insects are found. Thus, until I see prove of the contrary, I consider these entries as observations of sporadic behavior and not as something typical for this species.
I hope this answer clarifies some of the claims you read in literature.
Kind regards,
Kevin
Thank you so much Kevin, this is extremely helpful. Just as you mentioned, I also have not seen much evidence to show that they were specialists on Dung beetles, or that they were even associated with dung beetles, but I thought I would ask the question. I appreciate you response for sure, it does help set my mind at ease. Do you have any, or know about studies showing which insects they prey on? OR if other insects constitute an important resource for their life history?
Anita,
The fact that Nicrophorus species doesn't seem to be very specific regarding the kind of carrion the feed and breed on makes it very improbable that they would be specialized on dung beetles or another food source for the adults since that is only of a secondary importance. Now I know from literature and own observations that the adults of Nicrophorus do prey on insects and their larvae that they encounter on carrion (which I suppose is only an additional food source secondary to the carrion), I have to admit that I’ve never seen a paper which addresses on this specific topic in more detail. I guess that the mating and breeding behavior of Nicrophorinae is so interesting that no-one bothered to look at the feeding behavior of the adults. Maybe there is an interesting research topic in that … If I do come across a paper on this topic I’ll let you know.
Thank you Kevin. I would appreciate any papers that you think would relate to Nicrophorus americanus in the Eastern US, and N. germanicus in Europe seems to be very similar species.
I agree that these species have a lot in common. N. germanicus has also known a considerable decrease (but not as significant as N. americanus). The problem is that for N. germanicus this has not been documented as well as for N. germanicus.