54 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 



taining a small quantity of whiskey or dilute alcohol, 

 and put them into it as soon as caught. When they 

 are dead take them out, and stick a long pin or 

 needle through the right wing and body, so far 

 that their legs cannot touch the bottom, and then 

 place them in a box the bottom of which is lined 

 with beeswax or cork. In order to prevent the 

 entrance of destructive living insects, it is also neces- 

 sary to stick a pin in each corner of the box with 

 a piece of sponge on it, which you must from time 

 to time saturate with spirits of camphor. Beetles 

 may be also kept in a vial of whiskey or alcohol, 

 and thus be preserved for many years, and trans- 

 ported thousands of miles without injury. I have 

 been thus particular in these details, because I am 

 often asked how to catch and preserve these insects. 



Another species of Dung-beetle, very beneficial 

 in the same way, and well known to every child, is 

 the funny Tumble-bug, or Pellet-beetle (Ateuehus 

 volvens), which is found in all the States of the 

 Union, and in fact similar ones are found in all 

 parts of the world. Pliny, speaking of that species 

 which is found in Italy, says : " Aliud scaraba3orum 

 genus, qui e fimo ingentes pilos aversis pedibus volu- 

 tant, parvosque in iis contra rigorem hiemis ver- 

 miculos foetus sui nidulantur." 



The Pellet-beetle of North America is half an 



