An underground chamber is formed around the buried carcass, and eggs are laid in a side tunnel exiting the chamber. The larva then feed on the carcass. A positive relationship exists between brood size and carcass size. In the field, brood size has been found to range from 3 to 31. The American burying beetle is unusual in that both parents provide care to their young.
Care involves guarding as well as feeding the young.
Adults sometimes have more than one brood in a season. Individuals are known to live only about a year. In Oklahoma, American burying beetles found in the Ouachita Mountains occur in oak-pine woodlands, open fields, and in the transition zone between the two. The other known Oklahoma population occurs on the western edge of the Ozark uplift. These beetles are found in oak-hickory forests and open grasslands.