Carrion Beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) of Northeastern Iowa: A Comparison of Baits for Sampling

Authors

David R. Coyle, Luther College
Kirk J. Larsen, Luther CollegeFollow

Document Type

Research

Keywords

carrion beetles, Silphidae, pitfall trapping

Abstract

Carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) were inventoried over a 8-week period from June into August of 1996 at 10 sites in 4 counties of extreme northeastern Iowa. Carrion preference and relative abundance of carrion beetles were studied by use of non-lethal pitfall traps constructed from large plastic plant pots and baited with aged fish, beef liver, chicken, or piglets. A total of 3,183 carrion beetles were collected, representing 11 different species. The most commonly encountered species of carrion beetles in northeastern Iowa included Necrophila americana (71.5%) and Oiceoptoma novaboracense (18.5%). When comparing baits, chicken and fish attracted the greatest number of carrion beetle species, individual beetles, and the most diverse assemblage of beetles as compared to beef liver and piglets. No American Burying Beetles (Nicrophorus americanus), a federally-listed endangered species last documented in Northeastern Iowa in 1921, were found. We propose aged chicken as the most useful bait for future surveys of carrion beetles.

Publication Date

December 1998

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

105

Issue

4

First Page

161

Last Page

164

Copyright

© Copyright 1998 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

EN

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Coyle, David R. and Larsen, Kirk J. (1998) "Carrion Beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) of Northeastern Iowa: A Comparison of Baits for Sampling," Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS, 105(4), 161-164.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol105/iss4/6