118 BRITISH BEETLES. 



The larvae afterwards ascend to the surface, having 

 eaten the contents of the burrow. 



Typhceus vulgaris (Plate VIII, Fig. 2), an allied insect, 

 found in dung, or crawling about pathways, on sandy com- 

 mons in early spring and autumn, has the thorax in the 

 male armed with three strong horns, of which the outer 

 pair are the longest ; the female having a rudimentary 

 sketch of a similar structure, and small or feebly deve- 

 loped males exhibiting but a weak edition of the normal 

 projections. 



All these insects hum considerably in flight, and pos- 

 sess the power of making a stridulating noise, which is 

 caused by the friction of a transversely striated elevation 

 on the posterior border of the hinder coxa against the 

 hinder margin of the acetabulum into which it fits. 



Although naturally feeders on animal excrement, some 

 species (e. g. Geotrupes vernalis) are often found in rotten 

 fungi. 



The CopRiDjE (to which family the " sacred beetle" 

 of the Egyptians belongs) have the organs of the mouth 

 invisible from above, being concealed by the clypeus, 

 which is semicircular, enlarged, and notched. Their 

 intermediate coxae are widely separated, those of the 

 posterior legs (which are near the apex of the body) 

 being approximated ; the four hinder legs have the tibiae 

 dilated at the tip, and the posterior pair are armed with 

 only one long terminal spur ; the tarsi usually diminish 

 gradually in width from the base to the apex, the basal 

 joint being always very long; the eyes are half divided 

 by the side of the head ; the scutellum is hidden, and the 

 pygidium exposed. 



They are of squarer outline and more " squab" shape 

 than the Geotrujjidte ; the thorax being convex and 



