70 



one above the other. The largest species we have is called the American Sexton (iV. 

 Amerkanus, Oliv.) ; it is nearly an inch and a half long, deep black, ornamented above 

 with large orange-red spots on the head, thorax, and wing-covers, and beneath with light 

 yellow haii-s on the breast. 



These insects are wonderfully powerful for their size, theii- flight is vigorous, and they 

 are able to ran with rapidity. We have at least ten species of these gi-ave-digging beetles 

 in Canada, differing from each other in size and ornamentation, but all possessing the 

 same habits and instincts. They are not at all uncommon during the summer months ; no 

 sooner, indeed, is any small dead animal or piece of flesh left in a decomposing state on 

 the suiface of the gi-ound, than they assemble in troops to bury it. After a careful exami- 

 nation of the object, as if to take its dimensions, and ascertain how many labourere would 

 be required for the job, several of them commence operations by creeping beneath the 

 carcass and digging away the earth with their fore-legs ; they continue their labours tUl 

 they succeed in sinking it several inches, sometimes nearly a foot, beneath the surface ; 

 and at the end of twenty-four horn's the object is generally out of sight, unless it be par- 

 ticularly large, or the gi-ound diSicult to V/ork in. In this labour the males assist, and 

 as soon as it is accomplished, the females deposit their eggs in the carcass. 



Many curious and interesting accounts have been published respecting the habits and 

 instincts of these creatures — two interesting narratives of the kind aie given La the Canada 

 Fai-mer for July 15th, 1868, page 214. A Gennan Entomologist relates that heconlined four 

 beetles of this genus in a small space, and supplied them with the following quantity of 

 materials : four frogs, three small birds, two fishes, one mole, two grasshoppers, the en- 

 trails of a iish, and two pieces of ox's liver ; they succeeded in interring the whole in fifty 

 day^. Of course this quantity was much more than sufficient for the noui-ishment of theii' 

 future ])rogeny, for whose benefit the burying takes place, and it was probaVjly only be- 

 cause these carciisses were placed within their reach that they continued their burying pro- 

 pensities, (Westwood). As a further instance of their powers, we may mention the fol- 

 lowing case, related in the Anurican Eniomologist : — 



" On one particular occasion, Iiaving deposited a full-grown rat upon newly-moved 

 earth in a particiilar spot, as a trap for these Burying-Beetles, we found that in twelve 

 hour's time the carcass had been completely buried, all but the tip of the tail, by a single 

 individual of our largest and handsomest species,(iV. Amerkanus, Oliv.) a beetle which is 

 only one inch and a half long. It would puzzle an Irish labourer to bviry a full-grown 

 whale in the same length of time ; yet proportionately this woidd be a task of precisely 

 the same magnitude." 



The Carrion Beetles (Silplia, etc.,) differ from the foregoing in their more flattened 

 shape, and dulness of colour, as well as in their habits and minor peculiarities of structure. 

 Our largest and commonest species is the Suiinam Silpha (S. Surinamensis, Fab.) Its 

 colour is uniformly black, with a transverse irregulai-, reddish coloured band or series of 

 spots, near the end of the wing-covers. It is found abundantly in carrion during the sum- 

 mer, and may certainly be considered from its fetid odouj- and repulsive appearance an ex- 

 ceedingly disgusting, even though highly useful creature. It does not bury its food, like 

 the Sexton Beetle, but msy be found swarming in and over exposed carcasses during the 

 summer months, evidently revelling in filth. The handsomest species of this genus is the 

 Shield bearing Silpha (iS', pcltaia, Catesby,) which is remarkable for the broad, thin ex- 

 pansion of its thorax in the form of an ancient semi-circular shield, of a creamy-white 

 colour, ornamented in the middle with a device somewhat in the form of a cross. We 

 have occasionally taken it in numbers about the body of a dead fish. The larvse of this 

 genus, unlike those of the preceding one, are obliged to seek their own food, which is of 

 the same character as that of their parents, and consequently have strong legs, and a crus- 

 taceous flattened body. 



5. Scavenger Beetles (Stapkylinidm). 

 The preceding gioup of insects follow the useful occupation of sextons for the smaller 

 animals, or employ themselves in other ways for the removal of carrion. The next tribes 

 of beetles that come within the scope of our present observation, dischai-ge a somewhat 

 similar oflice in the domain of nature, and busy themselves in the removal of nuisances 

 from the surface of the earth. 



