Plate VIII. 



Fig. 64. ONTHOPHAGUS TAURUS, L., Curtis. (Male.) [i^. Copridse. G. Ontho- 

 pliagus, Latr.'] 



Llack, thorax \vith a greenish, brassy, or coppery hue. Head elongate, somewhat produced in 

 front, furnished in the male with two long curved horns, in the female with two transverse ridges. 

 Thorax transverse, narrowed in front, sides rounded posteriorly, convex, finely and sparsely punctate. 

 Elytra rather flat, dull black or brown, eacli with nine faint punctate striae, interstices minutely 

 and very sparsely punctate. Legs black, tarsi reddish brown, anterior tibiae quadri-dentate exter- 

 nally. Length, 4-5 lines. 



Very rare. New Forest, Hampshire, in dung. 



Fig. 65. SPERCHEUS EMARGINATUS, Schaller, Curtis. \_F. Spercheidje. G. Sper- 

 cheus, Kuffelann.~\ * 



Ovate, convex, yellowish brown, head and disc of thorax fuscous. Head emarginate in front, 

 thickly and finely punctate, forehead with an interrupted arcuate impression. Thorax transverse, 

 narrowed in front, r()unded at the sides, thickly and rather coarsely punctate. Elytra broadly 

 ovate, somewhat thickly and coarsely punctate, with from six to eight indistinct smooth longitudinal 

 ridges. Beneath fuscous. Legs reddish yellow, sometimes pitchy red, tarsi fuscous at the tip. 

 Length, 3-3^ lines. 



Very rare. Found at the roots of aquatic plants, in stagnant water. 



Fig. 66. GEOTRUPES VERNALIS, L. [F. Geotrupidfe. G. Geotrupes, Latr.'] 

 (G. Isevis, Curtis.) 



Broad-ovate, convex, black, above with a bright blue, violet, or green tint, beneath blue. Head 

 rngulosc in front, with a short longitudinal ridge. Thorax transverse, narrowed in front, rounded 

 at the sides, thickly and finely punctate, with larger scattered punctures. iScutellum finely 

 punctate at the base. Elytra very obsoletely striate-punctate, interstices smooth. Length, 

 5-9 lines. 



Not uncommon. 



Fig. 67. ODONT.EUS MOBILICORNIS, Fab. (Male.) [F. Geotrupidse. G. Odoutseus, 

 KIu().~\ (Bolbocerus mobilicornis, Curtis.) 



Ovate, above testaceous, or reddish brown, or black, paler beneath. Head ruggedly punctate, 

 with a short raised longitudinal line in front, in the male with a long slender curved moveable 

 horn, in the female with two obsolete tubercles ; antennte reddish yellow. Thorax transverse, 

 narrowed in front, coarsely punctate, with a broad central longitudinal channel, in the male 

 excavated in front with a broad flat horn on each side a little within and behind the anterior 

 angles, and an acute tubercle in front on either side of the central channel. (?cutellum finely and 

 sparsely punctate, with several large deep punctures at the base. Elytra deeply striate, the strife 

 strongly and somewhat remotely punctate ; interstices smooth, convex. Beneath ferruginous, with 

 a sparse long yellow pubescence. Legs pitchy red ; tibia; brown, the anterior with from six to eight 

 denticulations on the outer edge. Length, 3^,-4 lines. 



Very rare, but apparently distributed throughout the southern counties. It inhabits dung, 

 and flics towards sunset. 



* In niiger's Verzeirltnhs <hr Kafer Pniissens, 241 (1708). 



16 



