THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 135 



distance whenever a pellet was disposed of, regardless of its 

 destination and position, thus reminding one of the story of 

 the owl who laid its eggs in a nest with a hole in it, each egg 

 falling through as it was produced. Another thing that struck 

 me was the immense amount of muscular power the beetle 

 possessed, for it often hoisted the pellet quite off the surface 

 of the ground over which it was pulling the treasure, especially 

 when any more than common obstacle stood in its way. — 

 G. B. Corhin. 



[I wish Mr. Corbin had informed us the name of the 

 beetle. Was it Typhoeus, Stercorarius, or Sylvaticus ? Again, 

 I wish Mr. Corbin had given more precise information as to 

 the cause of death : the presence of ants is not sufficient to 

 account for the mortality. In walking over Woking Common 

 I once took the pains to count the specimens of Typhoeus 

 which 1 found on the turf, and these were in the proportion 

 of fifteen dead ones to one live one. Another common 

 heath-species is often in the same disproportion. Did Mr. 

 Corbin ascertain whether the beetles confined themselves to 

 collecting pellets of rabbits'-dung? because this would be an 

 interesting fact, and perhaps assist in determining the species. 

 — Ed'ward Newman.'] 



Pollen-eating Insects. — Entomologists who consider that 

 a complete knowledge of insects consists in an acquaintance, 

 with their external form, doubt whether it is possible for 

 insects, and especially for those which, like the Diptera, are 

 not furnished with mandibles, lo eat pollen. Indeed, I have 

 been assured, by a well-known professor at one of our great 

 seats of learning, that the thing is impossible, and therefore 

 absurd. Nature;, however, is of a different opinion from that 

 of the learned professor as to its impossibility. Having 

 satisfied myself long ago that Diptera are great consumers of 

 pollen, I was pleased to find a full confirmation of the fact 

 in the writings of the German botanist and entomologist 

 Hermann Miiller, of Lij)pstadt, who has paid more attention 

 to the mode of fertilization of different kinds of flowers than 

 any other living naturalist. In his book, ' Die Befruchtung 

 der Blumen durch Inseklen,' will be found, by anyone who 

 can read German, a full description, accompanied by 

 admirable drawings, of the various contrivances by which 

 this is eflecled. The pollen-eating propensities of the 



