Nicrophorus marginatus Fabricius, 1801

Mullins, Patricia L., Riley, Edward G. & Oswald, John D., 2013, Identification, distribution, and adult phenology of the carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae) of Texas, Zootaxa 3666 (2), pp. 221-251 : 233

Nicrophorus marginatus Fabricius, 1801

Figs. 13, 14 , 26 , 39 , 52

Necrophorus marginatus Fabricius 1801: 334 (see Sikes et al. (2002) for synonymy).

Diagnosis. Body length 13–22 mm, entirely black except for transverse anterior and posterior elytral maculae redorange; entire epipleuron red-orange, anteriorly glabrous; anterior and posterior elytral maculae narrowly joined laterally, with anterior and posterior borders deeply incised; anterior elytral macula broadly joined to epipleuron and elytral suture, extended forward below humerus; posterior elytral macula broadly joined to epipleuron, almost reaching elytral suture. Antennal club entirely orange. Pronotum cordate with anterior transverse impression, disc glabrous, lateral margins moderately broad. Dorsal surface of elytron without long hairs. Epipleural ridge extended to point below or almost below humeral callus. Lateral portion of metasternum densely covered with golden hairs. Posterior lobe of metepimeron densely covered with yellow hairs. Tarsal empodium bisetose.

Range. Quebec south to North Carolina , west to British Columbia and California (Anderson & Peck 1985, Peck & Kaulbars 1987), and south to central Mexico (Peck & Anderson 1985).

Texas distribution. See Fig. 52 . This species is widespread in the Kansan, Chihuahuan, and Navahonian biotic provinces of Texas with scattered records in the Balconian, Tamaulipan, Texan, and Austroriparian provinces. It occurs in the following Texas vegetational areas: pineywoods, gulf prairies and marshes, post oak savannah, blackland prairies, cross timbers and prairies, south Texas plains, Edwards Plateau, rolling plains, high plains, and trans-Pecos. Confirmed counties (63): Archer, Bailey, Baylor, Bexar, Brewster, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Comal, Crockett, Culberson, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Delta, Dickens, Edwards, El Paso, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Hall, Hardeman, Harris, Hartley, Hays, Hemphill, Hockley, Hunt, Hutchinson, Jack, Jeff Davis, Kent, Kerr, Kimble, Knox, Lamar, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Medina, Montague, Moore, Parmer, Pecos, Potter, Presidio, Randall, Reeves, Roberts, Runnels, Scurry, Sherman, Stonewall, Sutton, Swisher, Terrell, Terry, Travis, Uvalde, Val Verde, Walker, Wichita. Collections : JAC, LSAM, MWSU, PLM, SFAC, SHSU, SRSU, TAMU, TORC, TTU, UTIC, WTAM.

Seasonality in Texas. See Fig. 39 . Adults of this species have been collected in Texas in almost every month of the year. The adult seasonality profile of this species (based on 189 occurrence records: Appendix I) is unimodal, with collection records beginning in spring with a large peak from summer to fall.

Biological notes. Anderson and Peck (1985) report that in eastern Canada this species is found exclusively in open fields and meadows, and Lingafelter (1995) reported this species in Kansas mainly from sandy prairies. Peck and Anderson (1985) state that this species is present in open grassland and shrubby habitats from southern Canada south through the United States into Mexico.

Data from examined labels. Collecting methods: pit-fall trap (un-baited, carrion baited, human feces), hanging carrion trap. Habitat records: inside city, mesquite prairie, sorghum field, ground, vegetation, in car, Juniperus unmanaged plot, grass. Carrion records: attracted to dead insects, raccoon, chicken, tiger [dead zoo specimen], opossum, skunk, Sylvilganus auduboni carrion, Lepus californicus carrion, deer and dog. Miscellaneous: cotton. In Texas, this species occurs mostly in the rolling plains and high plains vegetational areas, with many records from the arid trans-Pecos vegetational area in west Texas and the Edwards Plateau. The very few occurrence records from forested eastern vegetational areas confirm reports by Anderson and Peck (1985) and Peck and Anderson (1985) that this species prefers open fields and meadows. Milne and Milne (1944) and Anderson (1982) studied the behavior of this species in the field.

Figures

FIGURES 12 – 17. Details of Texas Silphidae. 12. Nicrophorus tomentosus, tarsal empodium bisetose; 13. Nicrophorus marginatus, yellow pubescence of posterior lobe of metepimeron, no hairs on dorsal surface of elytra; 14. Nicrophorus marginatus, pronotum. 15. Nicrophorus orbicollis, posterior lobe of metepimeron glabrous, long hairs on dorsal surface of elytra; 16. Nicrophorus pustulatus, pronotum; 17. Nicrophorus mexicanus, pronotum.

FIGURES 24 – 30. Habitus of Texas Nicrophorus. 24, N. americanus; 25, N. carolinus; 26, N. marginatus; 27, N. mexicanus; 28, N. pustulatus; 29, N. orbicollis; 30, N. tomentosus. All scale bars = 10 mm.

FIGURES 37 – 42. Adult seasonality profiles based on occurrence records for Texas Silphidae, Nicrophorinae (part). 37, Nicrophorus americanus; 38, N. carolinus; 39, N. marginatus; 40, N. mexicanus; 41, N. orbicollis; 42, N. pustulatus. For an explanation of occurrence record calculations, see Methods.

FIGURES 50 – 55. Distribution maps for Texas Silphidae, Nicrophorinae (part). 50, Nicrophorus americanus; 51, N. carolinus; 52, N. marginatu s; 53, N. mexicanus; 54, N. orbicollis; 55, N. pustulatus.