Beetles
Close up of the mouth parts of a beetle. Electron micrograph: S. Lindsay
The first beetles arrive at a corpse soon after the body begins to putrefy. In contrast to the flies, beetles have chewing mouthparts and can manage tougher foods than the semi-liquid material that fly larvae are so efficient at exploiting.
Three types of beetle make their living out of corpses. The early arrivals tend to be predatory adults that feed on fly larvae. Some of these species lay their eggs in the corpse, and the emerging larvae, which share their parents' powerful jaws, also feed on fly larvae. These species include the rove beetles (Staphylinidae), and hister beetles (Histeridae).
Late-arriving species tend to be specialist scavengers which feed on tougher parts like skin and tendons as the body dries out. The dominant late stage scavengers include the larvae of hide beetles (Dermestidae), and ham beetles (Cleridae).
Species such as the carrion beetles (Silphidae) are more variable in their diets. The adults are predatory, although they will eat some carrion, but their larvae are restricted to carrion on moist corpses.
Other families of beetles also eat carrion, for example, the carcass beetles (Trogidae), but they are minor players in the decomposition of corpses. In Australia, several dung beetles (Scarabaeini) are attracted to large carcasses, especially to the intestine of herbivorous mammals. These beetles have specialised, fluid-feeding mouthparts.
Beetles have a life cycle similar to the fly life cycle with egg, larval, pupal and adult stages. However, the number of instars (stage of development between moulting) in the larval stage varies between species from 2 up to 16, and the stages differ more from each other than the instars of fly larvae.
Rove beetles
Hister beetles
Carrion beetles
Hide beetles
Ham beetles
Carcass beetles
Beetle larvae
Further information
Copyright © Australian Museum 2003
