Captive breeding colonies currently exist at the St. Louis Zoo (St. Louis, Missouri) and Roger Williams Park Zoo (Providence, Rhode Island) as source populations for reintroduction efforts and as safe reservoirs for this scarce species. Another maintained at Boston University (Boston, Massachusetts) for several years contributed to much of the research on the reproductive behavior of Nicrophorus americanus. (see references)

References

• Kozol, A. J. 1981. Ecology and population genetics of the endangered American burying beetle, Nicrophorus americanus. Dissertation, Boston University, Boston. 164 pp.
• Kozol, A. J., J. F. A. Traniello & S. M. Williams. 1994. Genetic variation in the endangered burying beetle Nicrophorus americanus (Coleoptera: Silphidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 87: 928-935.
• Kozol, A. J., M. J. Amaral & T. W. French. 1994. The reintroduction of the American burying beetle on Penikese Island, Massachusetts. American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, Annual Conference Proceedings 1994: 112.
• Kozol, A. J., M. P. Scott & J. F. A. Traniello. 1989 [1988]. The American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus americanus: studies on the natural history of a declining species. Psyche 95: 167-176.