Isotopic discrimination between carrion and elytra clippings of lab-reared American burying beetles (Nicrophorus americanus): Implications for conservation and evaluation of feeding relationships in the wild.

This study informs future interpretation of stable isotope data for insects within the carrion food web. In addition, these results provide insight into carrion resources used by co-occurring burying beetle species in situ. We also demonstrated that independent of adult food type, the larval food source has a significant impact on the isotopic signatures of adult beetles, which can be estimated using a minimally invasive elytra clipping.