This amazing beetle came marching into my kitchen one evening, I picked it up and on close inspection, several spider-like creatures were attached to its body. At first, I thought they could be the beetle’s babies, but after some research they turned out to be mites that were using the beetle for a ride to the carrion on which they then lay their eggs. The mites were bothering the beetle which was trying to remove them with its feet but the mites seemed to stay out of reach, but apparently the mites don't harm the beetle.

After filming the beetle and its passengers I must say it made me feel rather itchy!

Banded Sexton beetle, is one of several large beetles often referred to as burying beetles because they lay their eggs in the soil close to the dead bodies of small mammals and birds which they bury by excavating the soil from around and beneath the corpse so that it slowly sinks into the ground. The beetle larvae hatch within a few days and feed off the carrion until fully grown.

The original name for this family of beetles is Necrophorus from the Greek word ‘necro‘ meaning a dead body but later became mistranslated to ‘nicro‘, known as one of the undertakers or gravediggers of the insect world!