Burying Beatles

An Independent Project By:Emily P. VillaSidney WoodBelinda Liu

Gabriella Flibotte

I. Introduction

Natural History- There are many different species of Burying Beetles- They are classified as “opportunistic scavengers, feeding on

anything dead, but also catch and kill other insects”- They are nocturnal and bury the carcasses they find at night to

prevent flies from laying eggs in their food.- Carrion is shaved, rolled into a ball, and treated with secretions by

adults.- The meat that they bury is for their young when they hatch. This

species is well known for the care that they provide for their eggs.- Burying the food also has the purpose of reducing competition.

Habitat

• Burying Beetles live in a wide variety of habitats; specific habitats are unknown.

• They can be found in woodlands/forests with fairly little vegetation

• They inhabit both forests and grassland areas but an important factor seems to be the availability of carrion.

• Vegetative cover is not as much a limiting factor as disturbance and soil type- it must always be appropriate for digging.

• This insect is largely restricted to areas unaffected by human influence.

Hypothesis

• We will find the Burying Beetle most likely in upland traps where there is less disturbance and soil is not too moist. There is a possibility of finding them in lowland traps because vegetative cover is less.

Measured Variables…• Abundance• Distribution• Disturbance (subjectively)• Proximity of water (subjectively)

Methods• Dates data was collected:

Date: 2008 Time of Day Checked Reset Caught

May 8 Afternoon N/A First day setting them 0

May 9 Afternoon X Too cold to reset; raining forecast for the next day

0

May 11 Late Afternoon Nothing in the traps to check Raining and cold still reset 0

May 12 Early Evening X Had no meat to reset; bad conditions as well

0

May 14 Noon X reset 0

May 15 Afternoon X Reset 0

May 16 Afternoon X Reset although slightly raining 0

May 19 Morning Nothing in Traps to check Reset 0

May 20 Early Evening X Did not reset 1

May 22 Afternoon X Reset 1

May 23 Afternoon X Did not reset 1

• Traps were set by using store bought diced beef and then cutting 1 ½ sq.in. chunks.

• 40 pieces, one for every trap

• Checking the traps involved searching for beetles inside, and then removing any foliage or creatures that might have fallen in.

• Took 35 minutes

Methods continued…

Study area- Keyes Woods

Traps• 5 different series of pitfalls, each one including 8

individual pitfalls divided by a thin metal sheet separating sets of parallel traps.

• Each set located in different habitat.• 2 traps in wetland and close to stream - disturbed

because trail runs parallel to them.

Map of Study Area

*The variables were measured by location of the pitfall traps and the habitat features. There are five different trap locations and each one has its own habitat features. We measured the number of beetles found in wetland habitats and dry upland habitats.

Error & Bias

• Weather when we were collecting data. - Many of the days it was raining and cold out, or about to

rain and cold out. - Rain inhibited the beetles from coming out and the cold

discouraged them as well. - Good weather is key for this lab; sunny warm days are

the most convenient for setting the traps but also for the beetles.

• Reliability and Consistency of Our Data Collecting- Our data was collected somewhat sporadically and at all

different times of day. - This creates more variables for us to look at because

there is no real pattern or consistency in when we collected data.

• The size of the beef chunks that we used to set the traps with.

- Getting the exact same size chunk for every trap was impossible to achieve.

- Some chunks were significantly smaller than the others.

- This could cause biases in the range of beetles that use the chunks of meat for reproduction and foraging.

Possible Reason For Outcome of the

Experiment.• Meat not rancid enough, not right meat.• Beetles could have flown out of the traps.• The Beetle is critically imperiled in Massachusetts• The population could have been infested with nemotodes

(parasites) and therefore declined.• Habitat fragmentation and other human caused

disturbances• Loss of large mammal predators that may have resulted

in increases of smaller mammal predatory-scavengers that are more likely to compete with the beetles for carcasses of still smaller mammals or birds.

Improvements

• Have a longer study time to ensure better weather.

• In order to strengthen the lab we could have made a schedule that would show regularity in our data collection.

• Don’t let the meat dry out, but leave it out for a few days to allow it to become rancid and thus appealing to the beetles.

Sources Cited

• Encyclopedia of Life. Tree of Life. 26 May 2008 https://mygroton.groton.org/secure/my1.asp?return=my2.asp&default=m:academics&path_to_view=http://faculty.groton.org

• Natureserve. 26 May 2008 <https://mygroton.groton.org/secure/my1.asp?return=my2.asp&default=m:academics&path_to_view=http://faculty.groton.org>.

• Text by Brett Ratcliffe, Curator and Professor, University of Nebraska State Museum http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/endanger.htm