Nicrophorus nepalensis

Nicrophorus nepalensis Hope, (Chinese: 尼泊爾埋葬蟲 or 橙斑埋葬蟲), commonly known as burying beetle, is widespread across tropical and subtropical countries in Asia. It belongs to the order Coleoptera and the family Silphidae, and is part of the nepalensis species-group, which is the second largest species group within the genus Nicrophorus.[1] N. nepalensis differs from some other beetles in that it exhibits biparental care. Its role as a decomposer is crucial in the energy cycle and energy transformation in the ecosystem.

Nicrophorus nepalensis
A specimen of Nicrophorus Nepalensis on display at the Natural History Museum at London.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Silphidae
Genus: Nicrophorus
Species:
N. nepalensis
Binomial name
Nicrophorus nepalensis
Hope, 1831

Etymology

N. nepalensis Hope is a burying beetle described by Reverend Frederick William Hope in 1831. The genus, Nicrophorus, derived from the Greek work "necro-", meaning the dead or corpse, and the scientific species name, nepalensis, referred to Nepal.

Description

The body of N. nepalensis is shiny black and has unique elytral patterns with four separated scalloped, orange markings and black dots in both anterior and posterior fascia. The basal segment of the antennae is black and the tips are club shaped with three orange segments. Frons of female have an elliptical shape, whereas those of male are more rectangular. A distinct feature that separates male from female is the conspicuous orange spot on the clypeus near the mandible. Another feature is the post-oculur bulge found in males. Pronotal width is a common measurement of beetle size, and adult N. nepalensis can range from 3.6 to 7.0 mm, with no significant variations between male and female.

Distribution

Based on geo-referenced specimens, N. nepalensis can be found primarily in the mountainous regions in eastern Asia and the Malay Archipelago, with a distribution ranging in longitude from 73°E (Pakistan) to 149°E (Papua New Guinea) longitudinally and from 51°N (Ussuri, Russia) to 9°48′S (Papua New Guinea) latitudinally.[2] Countries within this range includes Pakistan, India, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, and Malaysia.[2]

Biology

N. nepalensis can live up to four months,[3] with its lifespan heavily dependent upon the availability of food source and its surrounding environmental conditions. Changing seasons and day lengths that directly influence abiotic factors such as temperature and photoperiod affect the time needed for N. nepalensis to reach sexual maturity.[3] The interaction between such factors can trigger diapause, causing insect dormancy. Research done by Hwang and Shiao indicates that long day lengths with high temperature during summer inhibit ovarian growth where ovaries were not supplied with adequate nutrition.[3] In addition, the interaction between temperature and humidity plays a major role in influencing microbial activity. High temperatures and high humidity accelerate carcass decomposition and allow maggots to grow faster.

There are many consequences associated with inferior quality and quantity of the carcass meat. When the food source is limited and the female still lays a large number of eggs, this leads to higher female mortality. An insufficient quantity of available carcass meat will result in reduced female fitness since there is not enough food to feed all the larvae. Additionally, an excess of larvae in one brood under constrained food source could hinder their pupation, resulting in offspring with reduced size or a lower success rate for future reproduction.[4][5]

Behavior and reproduction

N. nepalensis is carnivorous and feeds on carcasses of small vertebrates such as rodents and birds. Carcasses are crucial resources for reproduction, as beetles would deposit eggs around a buried carcass where their larval broods can feed on.[6] Fresh carcasses are rare in the wild due to intense competition from the same or different species of burying beetle, blow flies, invertebrates and other mammals.[7][8][9] N. nepalensis Hope is one of the few species of beetle that exhibits extensive biparental care, which includes defending the larvae against competitors and regurgitating predigested carcass to their young.[10][11]

The larvae of N. nepalensis go through three instars, which are developmental stages of arthropods. After feeding off the carcass for about two weeks, the third instar larvae leave the crypt and prepare to pupate and eventually metamorphose into adults.

Habitat

In terms of their habitat, N. nepalensis are found in different elevations as they can migrate along elevational gradients depending on their thermal optimum and the surrounding temperature. In most tropical areas, they are found at high elevations in cool temperatures. Yet, they can also be found in lower elevations likely due to their tolerance to warmer weather.[12] Under certain circumstances such as limited resources and competitions from other insects or vertebrates, N. nepalensis would cooperate with individuals of the same species to optimize their chances of reproduction and survival. Group size differs with elevation and air temperature. In a study done by Sun et al., they discovered that cooperative groups, which were thermal generalists, were able to perform comparably high breeding success at all temperatures and elevations, whereas non-cooperative groups could only breed well at intermediate temperatures and elevations, making them thermal specialists.[13]

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References
  1. Sikes, Derek; Mousseau, Tonya (2013-06-20). "Description of Nicrophorus efferens, new species, from Bougainville Island (Coleoptera, Silphidae, Nicrophorinae)". ZooKeys (311): 83–93. doi:10.3897/zookeys.311.5141. ISSN 1313-2970. PMC 3698557. PMID 23825443.
  2. Sikes, Derek S.; Madge, Ronald B.; Trumbo, Stephen T. (2006-07-10). "Revision of Nicrophorus in part: new species and inferred phylogeny of the nepalensis-group based on evidence from morphology and mitochondrial DNA (Coleoptera : Silphidae : Nicrophorinae)". Invertebrate Systematics. 20 (3): 305–365. doi:10.1071/IS05020. ISSN 1447-2600.
  3. Hwang, Wenbe; Shiao, Shiuh-Feng (2011). "Dormancy and the influence of photoperiod and temperature on sexual maturity in Nicrophorus nepalensis (Coleoptera: Silphidae)". Insect Science. 18 (2): 225–233. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7917.2010.01356.x. ISSN 1744-7917.
  4. Bartlett, J.; Ashworth, C. M. (1988-06-01). "Brood size and fitness in Nicrophorus vespilloides (Coleoptera: Silphidae)". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 22 (6): 429–434. doi:10.1007/BF00294981. ISSN 1432-0762.
  5. Otronen, Merja (1988). "The effect of body size on the outcome of fights in burying beetles (Nicrophorus)". Annales Zoologici Fennici. 25 (2): 191–201. ISSN 0003-455X. JSTOR 23734524.
  6. Hwang, Wenbe; Lin, Hsiu-Mei (2013). "Carcass Fungistasis of the Burying BeetleNicrophorus nepalensisHope (Coleoptera: Silphidae)". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 2013: 1–7. doi:10.1155/2013/162964. ISSN 0033-2615.
  7. Wilson, David Sloan; Fudge, Julie (1984). "Burying beetles: intraspecific interactions and reproductive success in the field". Ecological Entomology. 9 (2): 195–203. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1984.tb00715.x. ISSN 1365-2311.
  8. Wilson, David Sloan; Knollenberg, W. G.; Fudge, J. (1984). "Species packing and temperature dependent competition among burying beetles (Silphidae, Nicrophorus)". Ecological Entomology. 9 (2): 205–216. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1984.tb00716.x. ISSN 1365-2311.
  9. Trumbo, Stephen T. (1990). "Interference competition among burying beetles (Silphidae, Nicrophorus)". Ecological Entomology. 15 (3): 347–355. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1990.tb00816.x. ISSN 1365-2311.
  10. Trumbo, Stephen T.; Sikes, Derek S.; Philbrick, Paula K. B. (2016-08-01). "Parental care and competition with microbes in carrion beetles: a study of ecological adaptation". Animal Behaviour. 118: 47–54. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.06.001. ISSN 0003-3472.
  11. Nisimura, Tomoyosi; Kon, Masahiro; Numata, Hideharu (2002). "Bimodal life cycle of the burying beetle Nicrophorus quadripunctatus in relation to its summer reproductive diapause". Ecological Entomology. 27 (2): 220–228. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2311.2002.00400.x. ISSN 1365-2311.
  12. Mousseau, Tonya; Sikes, Derek S. (2011-02-01). "Almost but not quite a subspecies: a case of genetic but not morphological diagnosability in Nicrophorus (Coleoptera: Silphidae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 102 (2): 311–333. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01568.x. ISSN 0024-4066.
  13. Sun, Syuan-Jyun; Rubenstein, Dustin R; Chen, Bo-Fei; Chan, Shih-Fan; Liu, Jian-Nan; Liu, Mark; Hwang, Wenbe; Yang, Ping-Shih; Shen, Sheng-Feng (2014-05-13). Dicke, Marcel (ed.). "Climate-mediated cooperation promotes niche expansion in burying beetles". eLife. 3: e02440. doi:10.7554/eLife.02440. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 4042004. PMID 24842999.
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