Burying beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae: Nicrophorus) occasionally bury small vertebrate carcasses in animal burrows for use in reproduction. However, few studies have examined how often this burying behavior occurs under natural conditions. Here, I determined the frequency of animal burrow utilization by Nicrophorus concolor by placing rat carcasses in a field without consideration of animal burrow proximity. I observed that 36% of the carcasses were buried in animal burrows. The results suggest that Nicrophorus concolor may frequently utilize animal burrows, which may be important for its reproduction.

中文翻译：

---

Nicrophorus concolor（鞘翅目：Silphidae）在动物洞穴中埋葬尸体以繁殖的频率

埋葬甲虫（鞘翅目：Silphidae：Nicrophorus）偶尔将小型脊椎动物尸体埋在动物洞穴中用于繁殖。然而，很少有研究检查这种掩埋行为在自然条件下发生的频率。在这里，我通过将老鼠尸体放在田野中而不考虑动物洞穴的接近度来确定 Nicrophorus concolor 利用动物洞穴的频率。我观察到 36% 的尸体被埋在动物洞穴中。结果表明，Nicrophorus concolor 可能经常利用动物洞穴，这对其繁殖可能很重要。