Cleanup Crew Some beetles aren’t too picky about what they eat. In fact, they eat things that most other animals wouldn’t. T ese beetles are scavengers. As nature’s cleanup crew, these beetles find dead or dying animals and gobble them up. Kavanaugh knows many places where he


can find beetles like these. He hikes along a stream in the woods. He spots a beetle zipping around in the water. It’s a whirligig beetle. It’s always on the move, looking for small insects that have fallen in the water. A whirligig’s eyes are split into two parts.


T at way, it can see above the water and below it at the same time. A whirligig has sensitive antennae. T ey pick up on changes in the surface of the water. T at’s how it fi nds other insects to eat. When the whirligig finds a struggling insect, it spins around the insect, making ripples before it attacks.


Still Hungry? A dead insect is a good meal for a whirligig beetle. Yet some beetles need a bigger meal. T e sexton beetle looks for dead birds, mice, or other small rodents. If the sexton beetle finds a dead mouse


lying on soſt soil, it digs all around the body. T e mouse sinks into the ground. T en the beetle covers it up. If the mouse is on hard ground, that’s not a


problem for the sexton beetle. T is small but mighty beetle moves the body. Usually, two beetles work together. T ey squeeze under the mouse until it is on their backs. T ey walk the mouse forward until they reach a patch of soſt dirt. T en they bury it. Once the mouse is buried, the female beetle


tunnels under the ground near the mouse. T ere, she lays her eggs. When the larvae come out, a meal is waiting for them. T ey eat the mouse.


This sexton beetle searches for a dead mouse to bury.


8 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


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