180 NATURAL HISTORY OP 



by beasts of prey, or the juices would be speedily 

 evaporated by the heat of the sun, and the maggots 

 thus deprived of their appropriate nourishment. 

 The Necrophori are distinguished' by the form of 

 the antennae, which are very little longer than the 

 head, with the four last joints forming a perfoliate 

 club, as represented in the following figure. The 

 mandibles are without teeth, and 

 the elytra are of an oblong-quad- 

 rate form, leaving three or four of 

 the segments of the abdomen un- 

 covered. The species, amounting 

 to near thirty, are confined, as far 

 as is yet known, to Europe and the 

 northern parts of America. They are almost in- 

 variably of a brownish-black colour, frequently va- 

 riegated with spots and bands of orange yellow. 

 Seven different kinds occur in Britain, one of which 

 is represented on the accompanying plate. 



NECROPHORUS HUMATOR. 

 PLATE IX. FIG. 1. 



Silpha Humator, Olivier. MarsJiam^s Entom.. Brit. Z>o- 

 novan's British Insects, ii. pi. 537, fig. 1. 



This species is entirely of a brownish-black co- 

 iour, except the three last joints of the an tenna3, which 

 are orange yellow. The head and thorax are very 

 fuintly punctured, and the surface of the latter is 



