Beetles, carrion

The arrival of blowflies, and subsequently their larvae, is followed quickly by the arrival of the flesh flies (Diptera Sarcophagidae), other carrion flies (Diptera Muscidae), and predaceous beetle species such as rove beetles (Coleoptera Staphylinidae), carrion beetles (Silphidae), clown beetles (Histeridae), skin beetles (Dermestidae), and checkered beetles (Cleridae). A variety of other fly families may be found in association with the body, and hide beetles (Trogidae) and larvae of some of the aforementioned beetle groups may feed on carrion itself, often on remains of hair, skin, and clothing in late decomposition (Smith 1986). 

Gibbs, J. P. and Stanton, E. J. (2001). Habitat fragmentation and arthropod community change Carrion beetles, phoretic mites, and flies. Ecol. Appl. 11,79-85. 

Shubeck, P. P. (1970). Ecological studies of carrion beetles in Hutcheson Memorial Forest. J. NY Entomol. Soc. 77,138-151. 

Estrada, Alejandro, Rosamond Coates-Estrada, Alberto Anzures Dadda, and Pierluigi Cammarano. 1998. Dung and carrion beetles in tropical rain forest fragments and agricultural habitats at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, journal of Tropical Ecology 14 577—593. 

Scavengers Dung beetles, carrion beetles, housefly larvae, and other insect species feed on decaying plant or animal material. These creatures perform a valuable task by breaking down these materials and hastening decomposition. 

The close relationship between monoterpenes and insects is, of course, well known, and work has intensified on what attracts, say, bark beetles to appropriate trees. One of the most intriguing aspects is the potentiating effect ethanol has on the aggregation of certain species when in conjunction with the pheromone. This aspect has little to do with total synthesis, but the discovery of new pheromones and defense secretions certainly has. Many are described in this chapter, but one of the more unusual types is the new cyclopentane structure found by Eisner and Meinwald in pheromones of certain carrion beetles, the synthesis of which is described in the appropriate section (Section 6). °... 

By contrast, no diastereoselectivity was found in the type II magnesium-ene cyclization/oxidation (158) (159) (160), which afforded the carrion beetle defense compound P-necrodol (160a) together... 

The cyclopentanone derivative 115a (R = Me) has been used as an intermediate in the total synthesis of P-necrodol 118, an insect repellent isolated from the defensive spray of the red-Kned carrion beetle, Necrodes surinamensis, and the sesquiterpene herbertene 119. ... 

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