I have read several papers about Nicrophorus vespilloides burying and copulation and I still have some questions.
-Do only males bury the carrion?
-Does male figth with intruders or also female? (one paper said that female fight with females and male with males
-Or is it so that another male-female pair can take over the carrion?
Hi Lennart:
You may have worked out the answers to your questions by now, but just in case:
- Males and females normally cooperate to bury the carcasses, but females will do so on their own if they breed without male assistance.
- Male residents will fight intruders of both sexes, but they fight more often against male intruders (see Georgiou Shippi et al.)
- Males and females only pair up once they located a carcass, and my understanding is that most competitive (largest) male ends up pairing with the most competitive (largest) female. In principle, it would be possible for a new pair to take over a carcass if a male intruder expels the male resident and a female intruder at around the same time expels the female resident.
Best wishes,
Per
Hello,
Have you already read this article?
Georgiou Shippi, A., Paquet, M., & Smiseth, P. T. (2018). Sex differences in parental defence against conspecific intruders in the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides. Animal Behaviour, 136, 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.12.011
DC
Hi Lennart.
Did you read this article?
Trumbo, S.T. 1990- Reproductive sucess, Phenology and Biogeography of Burying beetles (Silphidae: Nicrophorus), Am. Midl. Nat. 124: 1-11
Raul Ferreira
I have not read those papers. Thank you!
Trumbo's paper is about different species, I don't think this helps me as far as I am only considering Nicrophorus vespilloides.
Hi Lennart:
You may have worked out the answers to your questions by now, but just in case:
- Males and females normally cooperate to bury the carcasses, but females will do so on their own if they breed without male assistance.
- Male residents will fight intruders of both sexes, but they fight more often against male intruders (see Georgiou Shippi et al.)
- Males and females only pair up once they located a carcass, and my understanding is that most competitive (largest) male ends up pairing with the most competitive (largest) female. In principle, it would be possible for a new pair to take over a carcass if a male intruder expels the male resident and a female intruder at around the same time expels the female resident.
Best wishes,
Per
Yes, that's the species my lab works on. Note that we study them in the lab. You may find some additional information on mating behaviour in the lab and the wild in:
Müller, J. K., Braunisch, V., Hwang, W., & Eggert, A.-K. (2007). Alternative tactics and
individual reproductive success in natural associations of the burying beetle,
Nicrophorus vespilloides. Behavioral Ecology, 18, 196–203.
Eggert, A.-K. (1992). Alternative male mate-finding tactics in burying beetles.
Behavioral Ecology, 3, 243–254.
Perhaps you already know this literary site about Nicrophorus sp. and other:
Jean-Henry Fabre has written extensively about their behavior. Unfortunately, I only have the German translation available.
Jean-Henry Fabre: "Memoirs of an Insect Researcher", Vol. VI, p. 110 ff.
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