Welcome to kerbtier.de –
photo gallery of the beetle fauna of Germany

The red-shouldered ham beetle Necrobia ruficollis (family Cleridae) is one of three representatives of the genus in Germany and can be easily distinguished by the red pronotum and the red shoulders of the elytra. In the wild, the beetles appear on old carcasses and on carrion in the later dry stages of decay, where the adults prey on the larvae of other insects, whereas the larvae of N. ruficollis feed on dry leftovers of the carcass. Presumably the origin of the species is not located in Europe, but it cannot be established unequivocally today, because the species has been distributed throughout the world with foodstuffs since centuries. In Germany there are recent records from all regions, however, discoveries are sporadic and rather rare, especially in the north.