Nicrophorus Tomentosus - Research

Research

There have been several studies performed on N. tomemtosus in relation to its breeding habits. One major study was carried out to see how competition between flies and N. tomentosus would affect the brood size. What was discovered from these studies was that the existence or lack of oviposition by flies had an effect on the brood size of N. tomentosus present on the carcass. The fewer number of flies present on a decaying carcass the larger the brood size raised by the N. tomentosus beetles. Also the number of adult beetles present affected the brood size. The more female beetles present, the larger the number of young reared. Female beetles have a constraint on how many eggs they can lay due to timing however, male beetles do not have such a constraint and can impregnate several females. The one thing that wasn’t affected by the presence or absence of flies on a carcass was the amount of parental care administered.