80 



THE ORDER OF COLEOPTERA. 



TuiHE VII. 



LAMELLICOEN DUNG-BEETLES. 

 Excrementivorcb lamelUcornia. Saprophaga, MacLeay. 



These beetles, as tlieir name implies, are fouDd almost exclusively in 

 the dung of animals, mostly that of horses and cows, upon which they 

 feed, and the decomposition of which they hasten, and thus constitute 

 an important wing of the great army of useful insect scavengers. The 

 tribe is composed of the four following families : 



A. Eud of the abdomen exposed. Middle legs wider apart than the others; hind 



tibiaj with a single spur; antennae 8 or 9-jointed; size various Copkid.e. 



A A. Abdomen wholly covered by elytra. Middle legs not wider apart than the 

 others; hind tibiae with two spurs; antennae 9 to 11-jointed. 

 B. Abdomen with six ventral segments. Anterior thighs not dilated. 



C. Antenna? 9-jointed. Body almost cylindrical; size small Aphodiid.e. 



C C. Antennae 11-jointed. Mandibles robust and exposed; body oval or roun- 

 ded ; size various Geotrupid^. 



B B. ■■ Abdomen with five ventral segments. Anterior thighs greatly dilated ; body 

 rough ; size small to medium Trogid^. 



Sub-family XXVI. COPRID^. 



^ '"■ ^ This family contains the lar- 



gest species in this tribe of 

 Lamellicorns, the Copris Caro- 

 lina being upwards of an inch 

 in length, two-thirds of an inch 

 in width, and half an inch 

 in thickness. But it also con- 

 tains small species. The Chw- 

 ridium capistratumj a shining, 

 mahogany-brown insect, is 

 scarcely a quarter of an inch 

 in length, and some of the 

 Onthophagi are still smaller. 

 Many of the males have a horn 

 or tubercle on the top of the 

 head. In this division is the 

 common tumble-dung beetle, 



COFRis Carolina, Linn.:— ffl, larval; 6, a section of the ((7«W^7?07l Iccvis, Drury. ) A 

 hollow ('xcremeiititious ball in which the insect undergoes •/'.■, ■ ^ • jy^ 



its transformations; c, pupa of 0. mauginatus (from De- pair 01 thCSC inSCCtS IS OltCU 

 haan) : (i, female beetle : e, the spiracle, or broathins: pore of , . . , .. 



larva;/, the mandible; 9, the antenna; ;*, the labium, SCCU WOrklUg lU COUCCrt, aud 

 with the rudimentary labial palpi; ?, the maxilla and ■,-,. ■, -.. r. 



maxillary palpus ; j, the swelling ou the under side of the rolling a Oaii 01 mailUie in 



anal segment-after Riley. ^^^^^,^ ^f ^^^^ Suitable plaCC 



