DOR BEETLES. 101 



One of the commonest English species, Geotrupes 

 stercorariuS) popularly known as the CLOCK, the DOR 

 BEETLE, the FLYING WATCHMAN, the DUMBLE-DOR, 

 and similar names, according to the locality in which 

 it lives. 



The colour of this species is black above, some- 

 times glossed with green or blue, and rich shining- 

 violet beneath. On the middle of the clypeus there 

 is a sharp tubercle. The thorax is smooth, except at 

 the margins, which are thickly punctured, and on each 

 side there is a nearly circular impression, thickly 

 punctured in the interior. The middle of the scu- 

 tellum is punctured, and the elytra are striated, the 

 spaces between the striae being smooth. The sexes 

 may be distinguished by means of the tibiae of the 

 first pair of legs and the femora of the hind pair, the 

 male having on the inner side of the front tibia a 

 single erect spine, and the inner edge of the hind 

 femora strongly toothed. As this insect is liable .to 

 much variation in colour, it is necessary to call atten- 

 tion to these minute points of structure by which the 

 species can be definitely ascertained. 



The life history of this Beetle may be briefly told 

 as follows : 



In the autumn evenings the Beetles may be seen 

 flying about in large circles, as if they were predacious 

 insects quartering the ground in search of prey. In 

 one sense, this is exactly what they are doing, as they 

 are hunting after a favourable spot wherein to place 

 their eggs, and are wheeling over the ground in hopes 

 to find one. Attracted probably by the scent, the 

 Beetle discovers a patch of cowdung, alights near it, 



