Recognition and family life: Recognition mechanisms in the biparental burying beetle

Abstract

Burying beetles (genus Nicrophorus) are one of the few insect taxa that provide elaborate prehatching and posthatching biparental care. They reproduce on dead vertebrates and both parents are known to feed and defend their young. In this chapter, I will show that both of their key characteristics, their extended biparental care as well as their reproduction on a valuable and sought-after resource gave rise to the evolution of sophisticated recognition mechanisms. They are able to recognize the sex of a conspecific, their previous mating partner, their breeding partner including its reproductive sate and—using temporal cues—their offspring. I will provide an overview of the recent advances in elucidating the recognition processes of burying beetles and will demonstrate that most of the recognition mechanisms are mediated by chemical cues and signals.