BEETLES. 



373 



Fig. 433. — Gi; 



segments, the posterior }):iir of stigmata being covered by the elytra. Tlie antenna; 

 have from nine to eleven joints, of which the outer three only, in all genera except 

 Pleocoma, form a compact club. The species of this sub-family mostly live in excre- 

 ment, a few in other decomposing matter. 



Tlie species of Tfox have tive ventral segments visible, and the epimera. of the 

 mesothorax do not reach the rounded coxa.'. The numerous 

 Xorth American species of this genus are oval beetles, mostly 

 with rough surface. They feed upon dried decomposing animal 

 matter, and many sj)ecies are found about the refuse of tanneries, 

 and upon the hoofs and hair of decaying animals. 



The species of Geotrupes have the antenme eleven-jointed 

 with lamellate club, the mandibles well develojied, and the ab- 

 domen exposing six ventral segments to view. Most of the /■' 

 species are black, some with a bluish or greenish tinge ; a few 

 species liave brilliant metallic coloration. The elytra are usually 

 striate, the jirothorax sometimes armed with horns or tubercles, as in G. t)jp}aeus, a 

 species common in Euro])e. The larva; of Geotriipts develop in masses of excrement 

 which the parents bury in the ground, and in each of which the female dejiosits an 

 ^'g'g. Seven s]iecies of tliis genus have been described from !N"in'th America. Several 

 of them are quite common, and can be found by digging in the earth about cow-dung 

 during late summer and autumn. 



The large genus ApjJiodius numbers o\er tifty described species in North America. 

 Their antennas are nine-jointed, the posterior tibia; have two spurs, the front tibite are 

 strongly toothed on the i inter margin, the ejiimera of the mctathorax are not visible, 



and tlie elytra are striate. The sjjecies of this genus are 

 mostly <if small size, A. j'ossor being one of the largest 

 sjiecies. 'I'JK'ir l.arvie feed in excrement and develop rapidly. 

 Ileeger fnund that the larva; of A./'ceteiis, a common Euro- 

 |iean sjjeeies, hatched from the egg in from ten to twenty 

 days; the larva- moulted three times, attaining full growth 

 in from four to tive weeks ; and pupation lasted from four- 

 teen to twenty days. Chapnum observed that A. 2'orcus, 

 anotlier European species, destroys the eggs of Geotrupes sterrordviiis, and uses the 

 passages of the latter insect for its own oviposition. Species of Ap!io<J!us have been 

 found near the crater of Vesuvius, where the sandy lava had a tem]ierature of 1S2° F. 

 Six of the species of ^Iji/iodius that .-ii-e found in the United States were introchiced 

 from Euriipe. Among these ^i. /ii.s'.so?- is large and entirely black; A. Jimetarius is 

 about (I.;! (if an inch long, and black with red elytra; and A. inquiuutns is about O.l! 

 of an inch Imig, black, with portions of the elytra yellowish. 



Anidug the dung-beetles of robust form and moderate or small size, the genus 

 Onthopha</i(s includes a large nnmlier, of whicli but a few are found in North America. 

 They have nine-jointed antenna and lu) scutellum, the third joint of the labial ])al]ii 

 is obsolete, anil the distal end of the mi(hlle and of the jiosterior tiljia' is dilated. One 

 of the commonest kinds in the eastern United States is O. /<(teb)-osus, a brownish black 

 species about ((."ia of an incli long and nearly (1. 20 of an inch wide. From the posterior 

 end of the ]irotliorax to the front of the head is over onedudf the total leneth of this 

 insect. In the males a broail, almost lii-lobed, horn extends out from the fore part of 

 the protliorax and shelters the head. 



Fl(i. 4;!4. — Apliodiiis fostior aiRl 



.■iphodiUi 

 larva. 



