The Sacred Beetle and Others 



and much more conclusive than the peculiari- 

 ties in the corselet and wing-case. The 

 Sacred Beetle's burrow never contains more 

 than one pear. The Broad-necked Scarab's 

 contains two. I even suspect that there are 

 sometimes three, when the haul is a large 

 one : we shall learn more on this subject from 

 the Copres. The first, when she gets her pill 

 underground, uses it just as she obtained it in 

 the workyard and does not subdivide it at all. 

 The second breaks up hers, though it is a 

 little smaller, into two equal parts and fa- 

 shions each half into a pear. The single ball 

 gives place to two and sometimes even per- 

 haps to three. If the two Dung-beetles have 

 a common origin, I should like to know how 

 this radical difference in their domestic 

 economy declared itself. 



The story of the Gymnopleuri is the same 

 as that of the Scarabs, on a more modest 

 scale. To pass it over in silence, for fear 

 of too much sameness, would be to deprive 

 ourselves of evidence calculated to confirm 

 certain theories whose truth is established by 

 the recurrence of similar facts. Let us set 

 it forth, in an abridged form. 



The Gymnopleurus family owes its name 

 to a lateral notch in the wing-cases, which 

 leaves a part of the sides bare. It is 

 170 



