Family: Nitidulidae
Subfamily: Nitidulinae
Length: 2.0-3.5 mm
The common name for the family is Sap-Feeding Beetle, but Omosita discoidea breeds in carrion.
It appears that the beetles primary interest in carrion is the fungi that grow on the carrion, and thus this species is not unlike the many members of the Sap-Feeding Beetle family that feed on fungi and fermenting fruit and sap.
The species is sometimes found in decaying vegetation; the Wisconsin state record was a beetle attracted to banana bait.
Omosita discoidea is an adventive Palearctic species found across much of Europe, and now found in much of Canada and the United States.
The one other Omosita species found in America north of Mexico, Omosita colon, is also found on carrion, as are some Nitidula species.
The beetle shown here was on a deer carcass in Upshur County in late March.
Insects of West Virginia
