American burying beetle

noun

: a burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) of North America that has a shiny black body with orange markings on the elytra and pronotum

… encompassing some 200 acres of seaside farm fields that provide habitat for the unique and endangered American burying beetle (which buries the carcasses of small animals), among other rare species.

—Alison Gregor, Newsday, 15 June 2008

Word History

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined above

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