Silphinae

Common card · No. 439507

Silphinae is a subfamily of rove beetles that are also known commonly as large carrion beetles, carrion beetles or burying beetles. There are two tribes: Silphini and Nicrophorini. Members of Nicrophorini are sometimes known as burying beetles or sexton beetles. The number of species is relatively small, at around two hundred. They are more diverse in the temperate region although a few tropical endemics are known. Both tribes feed on decaying organic matter such as dead animals. The tribes differ in which uses parental care and which types of carcasses they prefer. Silphini are considered to be of importance to forensic entomologists because when they are found on a decaying body they are used to help estimate a post-mortem interval. Traditionally, the subfamily Silphinae was classified as its own family, Silphidae, but multiple lines of evidence show that they evolved from within the family Staphylinidae.

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