Xll CONTENTS. 



40. THE SCARAB^EUS AND ITS MODERN WORSHIPPERS. 



Wending the tombstone to the right, is the Churchyard Beetle (Blaps 

 mortisaga), distinguished by it> intense blackness. Next, on the ground 

 below, is a small, black, shining Dung Beetle (one of the Histeridce) ; 

 and adjacent, a pair of black and orange Necrophori, notable for their 

 industry in interment of animal remains. Climbing the grass above, is 

 the Silplnt i[i((!f7fipi>.nctata, a black and yellow feeder upon carrion ; 

 and in descending flight, lessened by distance, is that most common of 

 beetle scavengers, the Dor, or Clock (Geotnipes stercorarius) . . 110 



" The Scarabceus, an amasser of filth, fit emblem of mammon- 

 worship.'" 



The Dung Beetle, set up on high for the adoration of the sordid . . . 1:J.~) 

 1 1 . /X*r< 'T DIRGE-PLAYEli^. 



Hull-ring at the open easement, appear the head and shoulders of a Death 

 head Moth (Ache/ 'pos\. The table below is occupied by 1\\o 



IVathwatrh Beetles (Anoliimi tessellatum and A. pertinax), while 

 another (Ai/nl'n'ui str'mt />/> is ereoping up the wall above. All three 

 are drawn much larger than life ........... 126 



" Phantoms foot it t<> tin- l)i'<il//;ratch drum." 



A dance of death got up, at Superstition's bidding, to the beat of the dreaded 

 Dcathwateh .................. 143 



42. SHORT LIVES AND LONG. 



The insects chosen for thi< Vignette are such as afford examples either of 

 longevity, of brevity of existence, or of great disproportions in the 

 length of its several stages. The Brown Weevil (Ciirculio), a feeder on 

 decayed wood, at the right hand corner, gives an instance of longevity, 

 contrasted by the brief duration of the Ephemeral Day-fly (Baetes), 

 which rises upwards on the left. In this Ephemera there are two instead 

 of (as in E. rulgata) three filaments, proceeding from the extremity of 

 1 he body. On the right, is a common Cockchafer (MeloJontha vulgaris) ; 

 another of the same species, just arrived at maturity, is pushing ap- 

 wards from the grass; while a third, yet in its stage of larva, is 



