THEIE CLASSIFICATION AND COLLECTION. 31 



almost all the year through, except of course in quite the winter 

 weather. Mr. Rye suij;gosts that the name " dumble-dor " is 

 possibly an inflection of the American " tumble-dung," a name 

 given to some of the species which roll along the ground pellets 

 of dung in which they deposit their eggs. Our species may be 

 found in, or in the ground under, the excrement of cattle. Their 

 legs are fossorial, and theii" muscles so strong that it is no easy 

 matter to hold one in the hand. I have heard, and can quite 

 believe that, in proportion to their size, they are eight times as 

 strong as a horse. Another well-known chafer is the "rose-beetle" 

 [Cetonia aurata), one of the most brilliantly coloured, of all our 

 common beetles. Another found in Perthshire is there known as 

 the "bee-beetle" {Trichim fasciatiis). It is banded with yellow 

 and black down, and flies round thistle-tops in the hot sunshine. 



There are at least four genera in this section, the larvae of which 

 are dung-feeders, Geotrupes, Copris, Aphodius, and Onihophagus. 

 Of Aphodim there are about forty species. It is remarkable that all 

 these seem to contract no contamination from the excrement in 

 which they are found, but emerge with their armour and limbs 

 perfectly bright and unsoiled. 



5. The Steenoxi. 



Some common species of one of the families composing this 

 section — the Elaterides — have acquired the English name of " skip- 

 jacks " or " click-beetles," from-a power they have when they fall 

 on their backs, which they do pretty frequently, of jumping some 

 height into the air with a peculiar clicking sound. Their legs are 

 very short, and if they had not this saltatorial power it would be 

 impossible for them to right themselves when they fall on their 

 backs. If in the first jump they fail to fall on their feet, they 

 continue jumping until they succeed. They have a long projection 

 of the prothorax, which fits into a groove between the middle legs. 

 In nrching itself preparatory to jumping, the beetle lifts this pro- 

 jection out of its groove, and in the act of jumping it is re-inserted 

 with a click. 



Our British representatives of this section are neither striking in 

 appearance, nor numerous (about seventy), and only a few are 

 common. In the tropics they are among the most numerous and 

 most gorgeously brilliant of all the beetles. One species {Athous 

 hmmorrlioidalis) is very common with us in the spring, but it has 

 no English name. This and one or two smaller species may fre- 

 quently be seen flying in the hot sunshine. 



These beetles are vegetable- or wood-feeders. They are long and 

 narrow, with hard integuments. The antennae are either serrated, 

 flabellated, or filiform. Their larvae are exceedingly destructive, 

 the " wire-worm," one of them, is only too well known. 



6. The Malacodeemi. 



The beetles forming this section are a complete contrast to the 

 last, in respect of their outer covering, having, as their name implies, 



