806 SUNDRY INSECTS 



the material together with its front legs and then very 

 cleverly rotated it on one spot, lying almost underneath 

 it, so as to get a firm coating of earth on it ; it then 

 trundled the ball away. Soon other beetles arrived on 

 the wing, dropping quite near to their objective and 

 eventually crawling to it, obviously guided by smell. 

 If one happened to meet another when both were search- 

 ing for the dropping, one always fell in and followed 

 behind as if quite certain that the other must know the 

 way ! I watched No. 2 make its ball. The desired 

 portion of the dropping was the outer part which had 

 hardened somewhat. The beetle stays at one spot and 

 reaches towards it with its powerful forelegs enough 

 to make a ball about the size of a very large cherry. 

 It frees it below by insinuating the sharp front margin 

 of the head between the ball and the mass, and making 

 powerful lifting movements of its head. 



No. 2, after making the ball, did not for a long time 

 push it away, but kept pressing it together and patting 

 it, and finally gave it a very smooth coating of fine 

 earth, and then sat resting on it. 



Meanwhile others had arrived (ten altogether came 

 while I watched), some smaller in size. One of them. 

 No. 3, apparently desired a share in No. 2's ball, but 

 was driven off, hurled away by jerks of the strong front 

 legs. Eventually it joined with another small one, 

 No. 4, and these two very quickly made a rather ill- 

 constructed ball and trundled it off, No. 2 still patting 

 at its own. 



There were numerous fights between the workers, who 

 sometimes got mixed and each took the other's ball. 



These beetles are eaten by a species of Roller, one 

 of which when shot was found to have several of them 

 inTits stomach. Presumably its powerful bill enables it 

 to. feed on such horny beetles, whose large size and hard 

 coat of mail must deter smaller birds. Of the carnivorous 



