34 pliny's natural history. [Book XI. 



bite. These beetles are suspended from the neck of infants by 

 way of remedy against certain maladies : Nigidius calls them 

 "lucani." There is another kind 13 of beetle, again, which, 

 as it goes backwards with its feet, rolls the dung into large 

 pellets, and then deposits in them the maggots which form its 

 young, as in a sort of nest, to protect them against the rigours 

 of winter. Some, again, fly with a loud buzzing or a drony 

 noise, while others 13 burrow numerous holes in the hearths 

 and out in the fields, and their shrill chirrup is to be heard at 

 night. 



The glow-worm, by the aid of the colour of its sides u and 

 haunches, sends forth at night a light which resembles that of 

 fire ; being resplendent, at one moment, as it expands its 

 wings, 15 and then thrown into the shade the instant it has 

 shut them. These insects are never to be seen before the grass 

 of the pastures has come to maturity, nor yet after the hay has 

 been cut. On the other hand, it is the nature of the black 

 beetle 16 to seek dark corners, and to avoid the light : it is 

 mostly found in baths, being produced from the humid vapours 

 which arise therefrom. There are some beetles also, belonging 

 to the same species, of a golden colour and very large size, which 

 burrow n in dry ground, and construct small combs of a porous 

 nature, and very like sponge ; these they fill with a poisonous 

 kind of honey. In Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small 

 locality, the only one in which this animal cannot exist; 

 from which circumstance it has received the name of " Can- 

 tharolethus." 18 



The wings of all insects are formed without 19 any division in 



12 The dung-beetle, the Scarabaeus pilularius of Linnaeus. 



13 Various kinds of crickets. 



14 Cuvier says that it is on the two sides of the abdomen that the male 

 carries its light, while the whole posterior part of the female is shining. 



15 In the glow-worm of France, the Lampyris noctiluca of Linnaeus, the 

 female is without wings, while the male gives but little light. In that 

 of Italy, the Lampyris Italica, both sexes are winged. 



15 " Blattae." See B. xxix. c. 39, where three kinds are specified. 



17 This beetle appears to be unknown. Cuvier suggests that the Scara- 

 baeus nasicornis of Linnaeus, which haunts dead bark, or the Scarabaeus 

 auratus may be the insect referred to. 



18 " Fatal to the beetle." _ 



19 Cuvier remarks that this assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, is incor- 

 rect. The wings of many of the Coleoptera are articulated in the middle, 

 and so double, one part on the other, to enter the sheath. 



