THE SCARAB.EID.-E. 2J7 



The finest specimen of these insects is Oryctcs iiasicornis ; it is of a 

 briUiant brown colour, and has a horn upon its forehead hke a 

 rhinoceros, whence it has derived its title of " nose-horn." The 

 larva is larger than that of the cockchafer, but has smaller legs, 

 and it lives in the trunks of old and rotten oaks, but it is more 

 readily discovered in those places where tan has been allowed to 

 collect and to remain for some time. 



The Gcotriipidcs and the Coprincc form other tribes of the 

 Scar<ib<2ida;. They are essentially the Coleoptera of dung-hills, 

 manure, and of stercoraceous matters in general. The Geotntpidcs 

 have weak mandibles and jaws, the first being of a leathery 

 consistence, and the antennae of ten or eleven joints. The Coprince 



Oryctes iiaskcritis. 



have antennae which are formed of nine joints, and the mandibles 

 and jaws, which are small and membranous, are suited for the 

 liquid diet in which these insects indulge. The principal genus of 

 the first tribe is Geotrupcs, and its members are commonly called 

 dung beetles, as are also the Coprince. 



A large beetle, which is of a shining black colour, and whose 

 tints pass from green to blue or to violet, and whose elytra are 

 strongly striated, flies and makes a great buzzing in the fine 

 evenings towards the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, 

 all about the roads and near walls, or wherever filth has been dropped. 

 The female of this beetle takes particular care about laying its 

 eggs. She makes a deepish hole in the earth and a comfortable 

 chamber at the bottom of it ; in this retreat she lays an egg and 

 then collects and packs up a quantity of filthy dung, which she 



