Reproduction depends on the availability of carrion. American burying beetles select carcasses larger than other burying beetles. Optimum weights are between 100 and 200 grams. Birds and mammals are used equally and are the preferred carrion. A positive correlation exists between carcass weight and number of larvae produced.
Males find carcasses at night, soon after it is dark.
Males and females compete amongst themselves for a carcass, with size generally determining who claims the prize. Carcasses weigh up to 200 times a beetle's own weight. The beetles move a carcass by lying on their backs and balancing the carcass above them, then walking their legs to move the load forward as if on a conveyor belt. A brood chamber is constructed adjacent to the carcass while it is being buried. About two days after burying the carcass, the female lays her eggs in an escape tunnel leading off the brood chamber.