An Illustrated Key to the Burying Beetles (Nicrophorus spp.) of Minnesota
/Learn to identify Minnesota burying beetle (Nicrophorus) species with this illustrated two-page key.
Read MoreBlogging about field adventures, interesting species, and wildlife ecology and conservation.
Blog post by Christopher E. Smith (FieldEcology.com). Subscribe via e-mail, RSS, or follow on Twitter.
Learn to identify Minnesota burying beetle (Nicrophorus) species with this illustrated two-page key.
Read MoreA short hike off a road in the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge, near Zimmerman, he drops to his knees next to a hole in the ground that’s been covered with chicken wire, plywood, and a concrete weight. As he removes the makeshift cover, a sickeningly sweet stench wafts out. Smith, a nongame wildlife biologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, wrinkles his nose as he reaches into a buried five-gallon plastic bucket and pulls out the deflated carcasses of two very dead, very rotten rats.
Read More