RECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



309 



accuracy of the others method of investi- 

 gation J and in this way we shall clear up 

 the question of the burying capacities of this 

 valuable race of beetles, which for the present 

 I shall be content to call "scavengers," 

 rather than " sextons." 



There are several British species, of which 

 the following lines wLU contain a brief sum- 

 mary. The species represented at the head 

 of the article is Necropliorus ruspator, a kind 

 plentifully distributed. The one with the 

 expanded wings is a female, the other a male 

 specimen, in which it may be observed that 

 (he brushes of the fore legs, which are used in 

 burrowing for the purpose of forming a pas- 

 sage to the subterraneous nest or egg deposit, 

 are stronger and larger than in the female, 

 which proves that the male does his full 

 portion of the work of building, or rather 

 excavating, the nursery for the young. 



Necrophorus germanicus is the largest 

 British species of the burying-beetle tribe ; 

 it is entirely black, and nearly twice the size 

 of the species engraved. It is very rare, 

 being seldom seen except on the coast, the 

 only specimen recently captured having been 

 taken near Hastings by Mr. Heales. The 

 Continental specimens of this species are con- 

 siderably larger than the British. The next 

 species, N. Jiumator, is much smaller, but still 

 entirely black, with the exception of orange 

 tips to the antennae, and a narrow orange 

 border to the wing-cases. N. vestigator is 

 the first species that exhibits the charac- 

 teristic orange-red bars across the wing-cases, 

 similar to those delineated in our illustration. 

 N. vestigator is extremely local, but where 

 it occurs it is plentiful enough. In Suffolk, 

 for instance, it is found abundantly, in places 

 where the most common of all the species is 

 scarcely ever seen. It may be distinguished 

 from ruspator by the golden hairs which 

 fringe the edges of the thorax, and also by 

 the form of the thorax, which is narrowed 

 posteriorly. N. interruptus is very like N. 

 ruspator, but may be distinguished by the 



orange fringe of silky hairs on the exposed 

 joints of the abdomen. This species is very 

 rare, and at present has only been found at 

 Southend. Mr. Smith discovered it under a 

 dead adder, which had been crushed in the 

 road ; and baiting for it with young adders, 

 which he procured and killed for the pur- 

 pose, secured other specimens; but during 

 these captures he never observed any attempt 

 to bury the carcases of the adders so placed. 

 N. ruspator, the species engraved, has these 

 hairs entirely black. ISf. mortuum is the 

 smallest of the red-barred species, but varies 

 very much in size, some being not half an 

 inch in length and others nearly an inch. 

 The large specimens resemble ruspator, but 

 are easUy distinguished from that species by 

 the absence of the orange tip of the clubs of 

 the antennae, which in N. mortuum are en- 

 tirely black. N. vespillo may be distin- 

 guished from either of these species by the 

 golden hair of the exposed joints of the ab- 

 domen, and from N. vestigator (which in this 

 respect it resembles) by the bowed form of 

 the middle portion of the hind legs ; and this 

 last is the typical and most common species. 

 The genus Necrodes is also composed 

 of beetles of this tribe of carrion feeders. 

 Among the species Necrodes littoralis, with 

 its fluted wing-cases and the greatly-enlarged 

 thighs of the hind legs of the males is notice- 

 able. This kind is found in large numbers in 

 the carcases of drowned animals lying on the 

 banks of the Thames, of which river it seems 

 to have established itself in the office of chief 

 scavenger. The genus SilpJia also comprises 

 a closely-allied group of beetles; among 

 these S. thoracica, with its dull black wings, 

 and thorax of a velvety texture and rich 

 ruddy brown colour, is at once remarkable. 

 S. quadripunctata is very distinct in form and 

 habit, and wUl doubtless be eventually sepa- 

 rated from the genus to which it is now 

 assigned ; the wings are polished, and of a 

 light ochreous tone, with four black spots ; 

 and it is said to feed upon the living larva) 



