CHAPTER VI 



THE ONTHOPHAGI 



After the notabilities of the Dung-beetle tribe, there 

 remain, in the very limited radius of my research, the 

 small fry of the Onthophagi, of whom I could gather a 

 dozen different species around my house. What will 

 these little ones teach us ? 



Even more zealous than their larger comrades, they are 

 the first to hasten to the exploiting of the heap left by 

 the passing mule. They come up in crowds and stay 

 long, working under the spread table that gives them 

 shade and coolness. Turn over the heap with your foot. , 

 You will be surprised at the swarming population whose 

 presence no outward sign betrayed. The largest are 

 scarce the size of a pea, but many are much smaller still, 

 are dw^arfs, no less busy than the others, no less eager to 

 crumble the filth whose prompt disappearance the public 

 health demands. 



In works of major interest, there is none like the 

 humble, with their concerted weakness, for realizing 

 immense strength. Swollen by numbers, the next to 

 nothing becomes an enormous total. 



Hurrying in detachments at the first news of the event, 

 assisted moreover in their wholesome task by their part- 

 ners, the Aphodians, who are as weak as they, the tiny 

 Onthophagi soon clear the ground of its dirt. Not that 



79 



