AMERICAN BURYING BEETLE RECOVERY PROGRAM

Block Island, Rhode Island is the home to the last known naturally occurring population of American burying beetles (Nicrophorus americanus) east of the Mississippi River. In the 19th century, American burying beetle populations covered the eastern half of the United States and neighboring Canadian provinces. Present day, there are isolated populations in only a handful of states including Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, and on Block Island, Rhode Island.

American burying beetles are the largest of the North American carrion beetles. This species acts as a highend recycler removing small animal carcasses from the landscape. Carrion (dead animal) is prepared by the adult beetles by coating it with secretions that keeps the carrion from rotting, basically embalming the resource. All carrion beetle species require a vertebrate carcass to rear their brood. By removing carcasses from the ecosystem, the American burying beetle help to keep fly and ant numbers from reaching epidemic proportions.

Reintroductions of this species have been ongoing since 1991 starting with a pilot reintroduction effort conducted on Pekinese Island, MA from 1991-1993. In 1993, US Fish & Wildlife and partnering organizations collaborated to reintroduce the American burying beetle to Nantucket, Massachusetts with the goal of creating a sustainable population. Beetles were sourced from the sustainable Block Island population and used as founding pairs in a breeding program at RWPZ. Since 1995, RWPZ has successfully reared over 5,000 American burying beetles over multiple generations. To date, the program has released over 3,500 beetles to their historic habitat in Nantucket, MA. The RWPZ continues to monitor the reintroduced population and supplements it annually with beetles from the breeding program.