32 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 
In this family we find the largest Beetles, as, for instance, 
the Hercules of South America, which is five inches long. 
Many of them, also, are remarkable for their very singular 
forms. Upon their thorax or head we generally notice sey- 
eral horns, which are used to facilitate the process of dig- 
ging, and the antennze in many of them terminate in a 
knob, which consists of from three to seven leafy pieces 
(lamellae), which they fold or unfold at pleasure, like a fan. 
These last are on this account called Lamellicornes. 
Notwithstanding some of these insects dwell in the most 
disgusting and filthy abodes, from which also they take 
their nourishment, they are still very clean in their appear- 
ance, and generally very bright in their color. Their olfac- 
tory organs are very powerful and of great extent, for 
scarcely a horse or cow drops its dung in a pasture but we 
see them flying to it from all directions, digging themselves 
into it, working it up, and making holes under it in the 
ground, into which they deposit their eggs, or making balls 
of it like the Tumble-bug. 
The larve of these insects live under ground, and feed 
on the parts of their dwellings, viz., on manure, decayed 
wood or carrion, or roots. ‘They are of a cylindrical form, 
somewhat thicker behind, and round, and consist of twelve 
generally pale yellow-colored ringlets: their head is horny ; 
they have two strong jaws and six legs. On each side 
of the body are the breathing organs, consisting of nine 
holes, the same as in caterpillars. Their back is generally 
curved, and hence they can not stretch themselves out or 
walk upon level ground. Many of them live in this seem- 
ingly pitiful condition for several years before they change 
into a cocoon (pupa); then, with the material of their 
dwellings, which they anoint with a gelatinous substance 
coming from their bodies, they form an oblong cocoon, into 
which they gather themselves, and remain safe from all ex- 
ternal influences, until after a longer or shorter time their 
