530 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



tennae are usually enlarged so as to form a compact club, 

 which is neither comb-like nor composed of thin movable 

 plates; sometimes the antennae are nearly filiform. 



These insects usually feed upon decaying animal matter ; 

 some, however, feed upon fungi, and a few species have 

 been known to be predaceous when pressed by hunger, 

 destroying living snails and insects even members of their 

 own species. 



It is easy to obtain specimens of these insects by placing 

 pieces of meat or small dead animals in the fields and exam- 

 ining them daily. There are several other families of 

 beetles the members of which can be attracted in this way. 

 The larvae also live upon decaying flesh and are found in 

 the same situations as the adults. 



We have in this country more than one hundred species 

 of this family. Our larger and more familiar species repre- 

 sent two genera, NecropJiorns (Nec-roph'o-rus) and SilpJia 

 (Sil'pha). 



The Burying-beetles, NecropJwrus. To this genus belong 

 the largest members of the family. The body is very stout, 



almost cylindrical (Fig. 638). Our com- 

 mon species have a reddish spot on 

 each end of each wing-cover ; these 

 spots are often so large that they ap- 

 pear as two transverse bands. In some 

 species the prothorax and the head are 

 also marked with red. 



These insects are called burying- 

 beetles because they bury carrion. 

 When a pair of these beetles discover a 

 dead bird, mouse, or other small ani- 

 mal, they dig beneath it, removing the 

 earth so as to allow the carrion to settle 

 into the ground. This they will continue until the object 

 is below the surface of the ground. Then they cover it 

 with earth, and finally the female digs down to it and lays 



FIG. 638. 



