The Sacred Beetle and Others 



her pill, the bit is often at the mercy of 

 fellow-banqueters of whom the smallest are 

 the most to be dreaded. There are 

 especially little Onthophagi, earnest workers 

 crouching under the shelter of the cake. 

 Some prefer to plunge into the richest part 

 and bury themselves ecstatically in its 

 luscious depths. One of these is Schreber's 

 Onthophagus, who is a shiny ebon-black, with 

 four red spots on his wing-cases. Another 

 is the smallest of our Aphodii {Aphodius 

 pusillus, Herbst), who confides her eggs, 

 here and there, to the thick part of the cake. 

 In her hurry, the mother Scarab does not ex- 

 amine her harvest very carefully. While 

 some of the Onthophagi are removed, others, 

 buried in the centre of the mass, escape no- 

 tice. Besides, the Aphodius' eggs are so 

 small that they elude her vigilance. In this 

 way a contaminated lump of paste is taken 

 into the burrow and moulded. 



The pears in our gardens suffer from ver- 

 min which disfigure them with scars. The 

 Sacred Beetle's pears suffer even worse 

 ravages. The Onthophagus shut in by 

 accident ferrets about and pulls them to 

 pieces. When, filled to repletion, the 

 glutton wishes to make his exit, he pierces 

 them with circular holes large enough to 

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