NATURAL LOCALITIES OP BRITISH COLEOPTERA. 247 



them, and when this is consumed they are just ready to turn into 

 the pupa state, and soon emerge as perfect beetles from their 

 cases ; it is very easy, then, to see what an important part they 

 pLay as sanitary authorities in tropical countries where such 

 matters are entirely neglected. 



The ancients were well acquainted with the dung beetles ; we 

 have one of the first records of Coleoptera in Aristophanes' 

 " Pax," where he opens the play by describing two attendants as 

 feeding one of these beetles with his usual food, and expressing 

 great surprise at the way he rolled it up. We have not, how- 

 ever, space to dwell upon these parts of the subject, and must 

 turn to our British species ; many of our beetles simply burrow 

 in dung, but some, like Copris (our only true Scarahidce), Geo- 

 trupes, &c., make holes, and deposit their eggs enveloped in a 

 mass of dung at the bottom, thus helping indirectly to manure 

 the ground. Copris is a decidedly rare beetle, but may be found 

 in some abundance near Kichmond ; the species of Geotrupes 

 are, as a rule, very common, and often cause much annoyance by 

 dashing up against people on summer evenings in their blunder- 

 ing flight. 



If any person wishes to work dung and such like localities 

 without any' risk of contamination, the best plan is to throw the 

 droppings into a pail of water, when the beetles rise to the 

 surface, and may be easily secured ; this plan is, however, only 

 feasible when we are near home. An ordinary fern-trowel is 

 very useful, and might be supplemented by a pair of insect- 

 forceps, which would serve perfectly to pick up the insects with, 

 as they mostly have strong integuments. 



Fresh dung is of very little use, except for an occasional 

 rarity settling upon it, like Emus hirtus, which may occur once 

 in a lifetime ; it is of more use to the lepidopterist as an 

 attraction for A. Iris than to the coleopterist. After it has 

 partially dried, however, it will be found to contain numberless 

 species ; many of these are found in hot-beds, but these have 

 before been noticed. 



The beetle that usuall}- attracts notice on half-dried cow-dung 

 is Spliceridiinii scarahceoidcs, which basks on the top in the sun, 

 but disappears on a slight alarm. Cercyons swarm both in cow- 

 and horse-dung ; these are necessarily classed with the Ilijdru- 

 philidte, from which they cannot well be separated ; but by their 



