71 



To qftote the words of Kirby and Spence, (Inlroduction, Letter ix.), — "How disgusting 

 to the eye, how oifensive to the smell, would be the whole faoe of nature, were the vast 

 quantity of excrement daily falling to the earth from the various animals which inhabit it, 

 suffered to remain imtil gradually dissolved by the rain, or decomposed by the elements ! 

 That it does not thus oifend us, we are indebted to an inconceivable host of insects which 

 attack it the moment it falls ; some immediately begin to devour it,othei-s depositing in it 

 eggs from which are soon hatched larva; that ooncui- in the same ofSce with tenfold vora- 

 'city ; and thus every particle of dung, at least of the most offensive kinds, speedily swarms 

 with inhabitants which consume all the liquid and noisome particles, leaving nothing but 

 the undigested remains, that soon dry and are scattered by the winds, while the grass 

 upon which it rested, no longer smothered by an impenetrable muss, springs up with in- 

 ci"eased vigour." The insects that engage in this work belong to many different tribes, 

 chiefly pertaining to the orders of beetles and flies [Diptera). A large proportion of the 

 former come in natui-al sequence almost immediately after the Carrion Biietles already de- 

 scribed, and may, therefore, be fitly reviewed here. To give a complete account of all the 

 diflferent families of beetles that belong to the hordes of scavengers, would be a long, and 

 — to the general reader — by no means an interesting proceeding ; we shall, therefore, con- 

 tent oui'selves with describing the peculiarities in structure and habits of the common 

 sorts. 



The first and most numerous family that we come to, includes all those species of 

 beetles, called in England " Rove-beetles" or "Cock-tails" {Staphylinidce). They are readily 

 distinguished from all the other families by their peculiarly long and narrow bodies, flattened 

 form and very short wing-covers, (elijlra) which only cover one or two segments of the abdo- 

 men, instead of almost the whole of it, as is the general rule with beetles. These short wiog- 

 covers give the insect somewhat the appearance of wearing a boy's short jacket, instead of a 

 long coat; notwithstanding their brevity, however, they completely conceal and keep out of 

 the way the ample membranous wings, which, when not in use for flight, are beautifully 

 tucked away beneath them. The long uncovered abdomen is capable of being moved in dif- 

 ferent directions, and is employed by the creature in folding and unfolding its wings. When 

 irritated or alarmed it cocks its tail over its back, and assumes a ludicrously threatening 

 aspect: it also possesses the power, probably for defence, of protruding at will two vesicles 

 from the extremity of the abdomen, which emit a very unpleasant, and sometimes indescrib- 

 ably fetid odour. 



The chief food of these insects, both in the larval and perfect states, consists of decaying 

 animal and vegetable matters ; in early summer every piece of dung that falls to the earth 

 speedily swarms with them, and in the autumn they are equally numerous in fungi, agarics, 

 etc. Some species are also carnivorous, feeding upon other insects ; in England a large 

 species, commonly called the Devil's Coach Horse, (GeoriKs olens) devours large numbers 

 of the destructive Ear-wig {Forjicula). "On the least approach of danger," Wcstwood re- 

 lates, "this insect, like the rest of the group, immediately puts itself into a most ferocious- 

 looking posture of defence, throwing the tail over the head like a scorpion, protruding the 

 anal vesicles, elevating its head and widely opening its long and powerful jaws." 



Upwards of four hundred species of this family of beetles are found in North Amer- 

 ica, and of these, one hundred and five species have been taken in Canada. Many more 

 undoubtedly remain to be found and described when collectors pay more attention to the 

 minuter forms of insect life. Eight hundred species have been described as found in 

 England alone. In tropical climates they arc very rare ; their places as insect-scavengers 

 being supplied by the excessively abundant ants and termites. 



6. DuNO Beetles (Scarab(eidw, etc). 



The members of the family towhich wchavenowcome,and to which wehave given the 

 title of "Dung-beetles," for want of a better, have been objects of peculiar interest to man- 

 kind for many thousand years, and will, no doubt, continue; o attract the attention of all 

 observers ofnature as long as the world lasts. Were it not for their extraordinary habits 

 and for the reverence which was accorded to some of them in ancient times, these crea- 

 tures—like the preceding family — would be simply disgusting to us, even though of gie«t 

 value in the economy of nature. 



