News Animals

American burying beetles are making a comeback in Nebraska

Numbers of the threatened insect are on the rise in the grasslands of the Loess Canyons

An orange and black beetle on soil

American burying beetles are North America’s largest carrion-eating beetle. Monitoring from Nebraska’s Loess Canyons shows the first regional population increase in this threatened species since 1989.

Jay Pruett/iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0)

By Brianna Randall

One of the world’s best insect undertakers is making a comeback.

Populations of the American burying beetle, North America’s largest carrion beetle, have been decimated due mainly to habitat loss and dwindling wildlife species.