HANDBOOK OF BEETLES. 



47 



exceeds an inch in length, and feeds on dung or carrion. It runs 

 about on roads, etc., by day, and, if touched, turns up its head 

 and tail. It is armed with powerful jaws, and emits a very un- 

 pleasant smell. This insect belongs to the family Stapkyltnitfa, 

 and is common everywhere. 



The Clavicornia are a rather extensive group, with clubbed 

 antennae, but their palpi are much shorter than in the Palpi- 

 cornia^ which some writers include in the 

 present family. 



The Necrophorida, or Burying Beetles, are 

 black beetles, generally with transverse orange 

 bands. They measure from half an inch to an 

 inch in length, and the elytra are too short to 

 reach to the extremity of the abdomen. They 

 generally hunt in pairs, and if they find a dead 

 mouse or bird, they carefully bury it by *~ -* 

 digging away the earth beneath, and pulling f j 



and stamping it down. After working for a Burying Beetle 

 day or two, with occasional intervals of rest, (Necrophorus Rns- 

 the male finally buries his mate with the car- /*"* Nat - Slze - 

 case, in which she deposits her eggs, and then makes her way 

 to the surface again. 



The Silphida are smaller and rounder insects, which likewise 

 feed on carrion, and measure about half 

 an inch in length. They are generally 

 black, often with raised ridges on the 

 elytra ; but in Silpha Thoracica the thorax 

 is reddish, and S. Quadripunctata has 

 yellowish elytra, with two round black 

 spots on each side. The largest species, 

 S. Littoralis, more resembles a Necro- 

 phorus in shape ; it is black, with the tip 

 of the abdomen reddish. They may 

 often be seen running on paths by day. 



The Histerida are round black shining 

 beetles, sometimes marked with red, which 

 are found in dung, etc. Their form, and the very prominent 

 club of the antennae, render them rather conspicuous among 

 our smaller beetles ; they are about a quarter of an inch in 

 length. 



Many of the Clavicornia live in carrion, fungi, ants' nests, 

 under bark, or in other situations where they are not only harm- 

 less, but useful as scavengers ,' but the Dermestida are extremely 

 injurious to hides, furs, etc. \ the most destructive of all being 



Silpha Thoracica. 

 Nat. Size. 



