Figure 1. A female burying beetle feeding her offspring.

In this species, a parent spends around 72 h preparing a carcass, after which larvae hatch and arrive at the carcass. Once larvae arrive, parents spend a further 72 h feeding larvae (with peak parenting 12–24 h after larval arrival), and then disperse around 100 h after larvae first arrive on the carcass. Larvae disperse fully grown around 125 h after their arrival on the carcass. As shown here, feeding involves direct mouth-to-mouth contact and a transfer of pre-digested carrion from the parent to the offspring. Photograph by AJM.