I initially found this gloriously decorated beetle called the Common Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides) on my kitchen windowcill. You may notice it has a couple of passengers hitching a ride on its pronotum. These are Poecilochirus mites which don’t actually harm the beetle, but grab a ride to the next burial site. These beetles have an important role of getting rid of carrion by burying beneath them for their larvae to feed. The cheeky hitchhiking mites hop off when the beetle has found a new carcass, and the mites then breed themselves, their timing so perfect that when the adult beetles are ready to fly the new generation of mites hitch a ride with them in search of another dead animal.
Feel free to click on the images to enlarge and click again to get even closer …
July 2019, rear garden, South Staffordshire, England. © Pete Hillman.
That is a colourful beetle! Good info, Pete!!
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Thank you Indira 🙂
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Amazing the symbiosis one finds in nature.
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Seems everyone has an important mission in life.
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Indeed!
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Quite the symbiotic relationship at work here.
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Sure is Sandy.
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Wow! Great picture of an exceptional beautiful beetle including this fascinating mites 🙂 Wonderful nature where everything is so fabulously toothed!
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Thank you Almuth! Naure is indeed fabulously toothed … well said! 🙂
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That’s the way I feel, when I see how everything is connected. The insects and plants show us all the time. Fascinating!
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That’s a really interesting symbiotic relationship!
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It is quite amazing how these different species have evolved together.
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I zoomed in and thought what a great story this is, what a great photo. Amazing!
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Thank you very much Liz 🙂 Nature writes such great story for us to take in and be amazed by 🙂
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Yes.. the story is written there for us to see but I wouldn’t have seen this story without your help. Thanks for sharing Pete 🙂
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🙂
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Bizarrely fascinating
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It is fascinating, and something I have not seen before, except on bees, but where the mites do tend to feed off them.
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Nature is a wonder…and down right creepy at times.
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Interesting story of these hitch hikers. Zoomed in to get a good look at those mites.
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Thank you Peggy. They are quite fascinating creatures.
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Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
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Thank you David!
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What an interesting post.
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Thank you Anne 🙂
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Coincidentally, tonight while walking the dog, I came across a mouse carcass writhing with similar beetles. Gross and fascinating all at once!
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Oh, my, I just looked it up and this beetle is critically endangered here. Do you think I should do something? It was only on the side of the road barely off the pavement. Notify someone, entomologist, agency? What would you do?
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It should be fine Eliza. You find they probably find a lot of road kill to survive on as well as those animals which have suffered other demises.
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This morning I couldn’t find a trace of that mouse – completely gone! If not for your post, I wouldn’t have thought much more about it, but now I’ll keep an eye for them and take a photo if I see them again.
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Good on you Eliza!
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Fascinating! It’s funny what one can find in their kitchen… 😛
-Emma
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Thank you Emma! It sure is! 🙂
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