222 OUR INSECT FRIENDS AND FOES 



owner and ball have rolled over and over to the 

 bottom several times. But success at last re- 

 wards this strenuous toil, the chosen spot is 

 found, the tunnel and chamber excavated, and 

 the precious ball lowered into it. There in the 

 warm darkness of its subterranean chamber the 

 Scarab sits down at last to its well-earned feast, 

 and does not move from its banquet until the 

 mass collected with so much labour has been 

 devoured. But the rightful owner of a dung-ball 

 is by no means always successful in carrying 

 his property into private seclusion, indeed a 

 ball may change hands two or three times ere it 

 is placed in an excavated chamber, for these 

 Scarabs appear to be sorry thieves, always 

 ready to take advantage of any brother or 

 sister Scarab who they may find in difficulties. 

 Indeed, the humanitarian instincts which have 

 been so lavishly ascribed to them by some 

 authors are simply non-existent, their only 

 reason for offering a helping hand being the 

 hope that an opportunity may arise for filching 

 property from the lawful owner. The greatest 

 danger is during the process of excavating 

 the banquetting chamber, for then the Scarab 

 cannot keep constant watch upon the much 

 coveted ball, and while he is working away 

 underground, any brother Scarab perceiving the 

 untended ball will promptly annex and hastily 

 depart with it. 



That the ancient peoples of Egypt held the 

 Scarab Beetle in the greatest esteem and venera- 

 tion, we have ample evidence from the frequency 

 with which the insect appears carved upon 



