3io6 



THE JOINTED ANIMALS 



BURROWING BEETLE, Scarab&us variolosus. 

 ( Natural size. ) 



rangular emargination in the mentum; the lobes of the maxillae both resemble 

 claws; and the mandibles offer a peculiarity of structure met with in no other fam- 

 ily, each being provided with a movably articulated tooth placed close to the basal 



molar surface. 



The Ivamellicornia compris- 

 ing the burrowing beetles, cock- 

 chafers, and a host of other forms, 

 differing both in habits and external 

 structure are represented in all 

 parts of the world, though relatively 

 less numerous in Australia than in 

 the other great regions. We have 

 only to mention the goliath beetles 

 of West Africa, and the elephant 

 and hercules' beetles of tropical 

 America, to indicate the great size 



attained by some of the species; while as regards beauty and brilliancy of coloration 

 no beetles can rival many of those belonging to the two subfamilies Cetoniince and 

 Rutelince. The male stag beetles, as we have just seen, are 

 distinguished by their large heads and monstrous jaws, but 

 in the males of the present family it is, as a rule, the prothorax 

 which is greatly enlarged or otherwise modified in form, and 

 often furnished, like the head, with processes of various 

 kinds, sometimes short, in others taking the shape of huge 

 curved or branching horns. The family admits of two prin- 

 cipal divisions. In the first division the ligula of the lower 

 lip is more or less membranous and distinct from the mentum, 

 and the spiracles of the abdomen are all situated in the con- 

 necting membrane between the dorsal and ventral plates. 

 Among these we may mention the genus Scarabceus, over 

 sixty species of which are known, most of them African, 



some occurring in Asia, and a few, including sacer, one of the 

 sacred beetles of the Egyptians, found also in South Europe. 

 Among the coprophagous species, met with in Great Britain, 

 those of the genus Aphodius, which represents a second subfamily, 

 are the most numerous. They are somewhat oblong in form, as 

 shown in our figure of Aphodius fossor, one of the largest and 

 best-known species, and are usually shining black, though in 

 many the elytra are of a reddish or yellow color, in some cases 

 spotted with black. A type of another subfamily is found in the 

 genus Geotrupes of which we have in this country several species, 

 including the well-known "dumbledor" or ' ' shardborne " beetle 



(G. stercorarius) . The species almost all exhibit dark blue or 

 Aphodius fossor , 



with larva. black colors, and in most cases the sexes differ little in external 



(Enlarged.) form; but in G. typhceus, the male is distinguished by having three 



Scarabceus sacer. 

 (Natural size.) 



