Conservation Status and Reintroduction of the Endangered American Burying Beetle

Abstract

The American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus), listed as endangered in 1989, is one of only about 30 species of insects protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In the eastern United States, the site of the only remnant population of the species is Block Island, Rhode Island. The first reintroduction of the American burying beetle occurred on Penikese Island, Mas? sachusetts from 1990-1993 using captive-raised and wild beetles translocated from Block Island. Annual monitoring at Penikese Island from 1991 -1996 confirms that small numbers of beetles are reproducing on naturally occurring carrion and that the population is persisting three years after the last release.