Carrion beetle



Carrion beetles are carrion-eating insects living in a few areas of Azeroth. Most of them serve the nerubians as part of the Scourge. This page assumes that all beetles in service to the nerubians are carrion beetles.

Types

 * Carrion Beetles are summoned by Anub'arak, during his encounter in Azjol-Nerub.
 * Carrion Scarabs are summoned by Crypt Horrors and Nerubian Sycophants in the Terrorweb Tunnel of Eastern Plaguelands.
 * Corpse Scarabs spawn from the corpses of dead Crypt Guards in Naxxramas.
 * Crypt Scarabs are critters found in Crypt of Forgotten Kings.
 * Innocuous Scarabs are found in Argent Tournament Grounds in Icecrown.
 * Nerub'ar Swarmers spawn from Infested Victims in Borean Tundra.
 * Skittering Infectors are summoned during the encounter with Krik'thir the Gatewatcher in Azjol-Nerub
 * Skittering Scarabs and Swarm Scarabs are encountered during the Trial of the Crusader, during the battle with Anub'arak.
 * Tol'vir Scarabs are critters found throughout in Uldum.
 * Undead Scarabs are summoned by Nerub'enkan in Stratholme.

Warcraft III


In Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the carrion beetle could be summoned by Crypt Lords.
 * These creatures use their fierce mandibles to rip the flesh from the Crypt Lord's foes. Carrion Beetles summoned at higher levels of skill can burrow into the ground, losing their attacks but providing stealthy vision that can be placed strategically. Unlike most summoned units, Carrion Beetles are permanent until slain. Attacks land units.

In the RPG


Carrion beetles are sizable, almost 4 feet long in total. Nasty, three-pronged mandibles make up at least a third of that length. The mandibles and underside are grayish-blue and its hard carapace is bright red. These insects prefer to make their homes near rich sources of carrion, thriving especially near graveyards. They feed only on the flesh of the dead. Carrion beetles bury the body of a slain victim and leave it there for several days before burrowing back down to begin eating. Several more days may pass for a fully grown carrion beetle to consume a corpse completely, and nothing remains when it's done.

A carrion beetle will occasionally lay its larvae within a buried corpse instead of consuming it. The larvae later hatch and eat their way out of the body and then consume whatever remains. They then eat each other until only the strongest carrion beetle remains. The winner burrows its way to the surface and begins its own endless quest for dead flesh. Carrion beetles attack in a simple, mindless assault whether alone or in a swarm.

Carrion beetles often form a symbiotic relationship with the stranglethorn plant, living in burrows at the vine's base. There they help break down the remains of the plant's victims and lay eggs which in the decomposing corpses. The beetles are considered food by other predators, and lure the creatures to the vine's reach.