14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have discovered that female burying beetles are by no means maternal. On the contrary, these insects often kill and eat offspring that they consider annoying.
The specialists explain that baby beetles belonging to this species have better chances to reach adulthood if they settle for eating only once in a while, and don't upset their mother by asking for a second serving.
“Our study shows that if you're a baby beetle it doesn't pay to pester your mother for food unless you're really hungry,” Dr. Clare Andrews explains, as cited by Nature World News.
To feed their bundles of joy, the mother beetles feast on rotten vertebrates which they bury themselves close to their nursery.
Later on, they regurgitate semi-digested food into the mouths of their offspring.
Interestingly enough, it appears that, in the case of these insects, both the male and the female take care of providing for and raising the new generation.