News Animals

Female burying beetle uses chemical cue to douse love life

Sexual buzzkill allows parents to focus on needs of their larvae

a female burying beetle

THANKS MOM  While caring for its larvae, a female burying beetle (Nicrophorus vespilloides) releases a chemical compound to prevent beetle fathers from attempting to mate. 

Heiko Bellmann

By Sarah Schwartz

This article is only available to Science News subscribers.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address to access our archives.

Not a subscriber?

Science News is a nonprofit.

Support us by subscribing now.

More Stories from Science News on Animals

  1. Cuvier's beaked whales
    Animals

    A beaked whale’s nearly four-hour-long dive sets a new record

    By Erin Garcia de Jesus
  2. Ancient ostracod species mating
    Animals

    A tiny crustacean fossil contains roughly 100-million-year-old giant sperm

    By Curtis Segarra
  3. Pit viper
    Animals

    Cheap, innovative venom treatments could save tens of thousands of snakebite victims

    By Christie Wilcox
  4. illustration on an ancient Lystrosaurus
    Paleontology

    Ancient Lystrosaurus tusks may show the oldest signs of a hibernation-like state

    By Susan Milius
  5. tobacco hawkmoth drinking from a plant
    Environment

    This moth may outsmart smog by learning to like pollution-altered aromas

    By Carmen Drahl
  6. black metaltail hummingbird
    Animals

    This hummingbird survives cold nights by nearly freezing itself solid

    By Jonathan Lambert
  7. image of a sea butterfly on a black background
    Animals

    Sea butterflies’ shells determine how the snails swim

    By Maria Temming
  8. flamboyant cuttlefish
    Animals

    Flamboyant cuttlefish save their bright patterns for flirting, fighting and fleeing

    By Helen Thompson

From the Nature Index

Paid Content