THE BEETLE. 519 



forms a capacious apartment, which it renders very fmooth by the excre- 

 tions of its body. It begins foon after to fhorten, fwclls, and burfts its (kin, 

 ta become achryfalis, at firft yellowifh, but at laft nearly red. After three 

 months, in January, the chryfalis becomes a winged infed, but continues 

 feeble and fickly. Its parts are foft, and its voracfous nature fufpended. In 

 May it burfts from the earth, the firfl: mild evening, to vifit the foftnefs 

 of the fummerair, to choofe the fweetcft vegetables, and to drink the dew 

 of the evening, buzzing along by thoufands, and hitting every object that 

 intercepts their flight. At mid-day they lurk under leaves and branches, 

 the willow particularly, in clufters. They never furvive the feafon. They 

 unite fpeedily. 



The female bores a hole in the ground, with an inftrumentat the tail, 

 and depofites her eggs. This infect, in its worm ftate, makes one of the 

 chief repafts of the feathered tribe, and generally the firft nouriihment 

 with which they fupply their young. Rooks and hogs are particularly 

 fondof thefe worms. Of all the beetle kind this is themoft numerous, 

 and may ferve as a fpecimen of the reft ; but all are not fo long in the 

 worm ftate, a fingle year fufficing. 



That beetle which the Americans call the Tumble-Dung, is black, 

 rounder than moft, and fo ftrong, though not much larger than the com- 

 mon black beetle, that if one of them be put under a brafs candleftick, 

 it will move it backwards and forwards, as if by an invifible handj to the 

 admiration of thofe not accuftomed to the fight; their excellent fmelling 

 dire6ts them in flights to excrem.ents juft fallen from manor beaft, on 

 which they inftantly drop, forming round balls or. pellets, in which the^ 

 lay an egg. Thefe pellets, in September, they convey three feet deep 

 in the earth, where they lie till fpring ; when the eggs are hatched, the 

 nefts burft, and the infeds appear. They aflift each other with indefa- 

 tigable induftry, in rolling thefe pellets with the tail foremoft, raifing 

 up their hinder part, and ftioving along the ball with their hind feet. 

 They are always accompanied by other beetles, larger, more elegant in 

 ftruclure and colour. The breaft covered with a crimfon fliield, fhin- 

 ing like metal ; the head is crimfo'n mixed with green ; on the crown 

 of the head a ftiining black horn, bending backward. Thefe are 

 named kings of the beetles, but partake of the fame dirty drudgery. 



The Elephant-beetle is the largeft known; inhabits South America, 

 particularly Guiana and Surinam, and the river Oroonoko ; is black, co- 

 vered with a very hard fliell, full as thick and ftrong as a fmall crab. Its 

 length four inches. The breadth of the body two inches and'a quarter; 

 the breadth of each elytrcn or cafe for the wings, an inch and three tenths. 



3 H 2 The 



