The carcass consisted of only a few scattered bones and a dried, empty carapace. Larva were hidden between the plastral plates and the fat-stained sand. These larva should therefore be considered saprophagous rather than necrophagous. The coleopterans collected around the leatherback carcass had varied diets. Carabids, staphylinids and histerids are mainly predatory, while scarabeids are coprophagous and detritivorous.
Tenebrionids are more eclectic, sometimes saprophagous, sometimes mycetophagous.
We may suppose that members of the first three families prey on fly larva, hence their arrival occurs after development of their prey. The scarabeids feed on dead organic matter, contributing to the decomposition of the turtle carcass. The tenebrionids would play an intermediate role, sometimes acting as predators, other times saprophagous. This hypothesis is reinforced by the variety of species collected, which illustrates the morphological heterogeneity related to the heterogeneity of the lifestyles specific to each family. And so the role of each insect family in the decomposition of the turtle carcass becomes clear.