NATURAL HISTORY. 



'Zvo 



on some occasions. I saw a lady at the < Retreta ' once, with a coronet 

 and stomacher of them ; and all the crown jewels of Spam could not have 

 made her so resplendent. The light is not a flash, seen but a moment and 

 then -one, like our fire-fly's light, but it is emitted in a brilliant, steady 

 ray a & t will, and is of extreme beauty of tint, being of a slightly greenish 

 yellow viewed in some positions, and of pale red viewed in others." To 

 the foregoino- it only needs to be added that the phosphorescence is com- 

 pletely under control : while the beetle is eating or sleeping no light is 

 emitted ; but if they be given a warm bath, it is greatly stimulated. The 

 perfect beetles live from April to July or August. 



The cucujo, as was said above, is a member of the group of snapping- 

 beetles, all of which, during their larval stages, live upon vegetable sub- 

 stances, some on the soft and succulent plants, others 

 boring in the wood of the harder trees. The common 

 ""P name is derived from the curious way these insects have 

 V of snapping or springing to a considerable height when 

 (\ placed upon their backs. On the under side of the tho- 

 l\ rax there is a spring ; the insect bends backwards as far 

 \ as possible, and then releases the spring, which suddenly 

 bends the body in the opposite direction, thus throwing 

 the beetle into the air. We have many species of these 

 later, or spring-beetles, almost all of them dull, inconspicuous forms 

 Z: ,, ' , :l:i,:!:!; i !y with but little of general interest aside from the spring 



c:ille<l a wire-worm. , 



about them. 



Every traveler to Egypt brings back with him little stone or pottery 

 beetles (either genuine or manufactured in England) the Scarabgei of the 

 ancient Egyptians. In all the countries around the Mediterranean the 

 beetle which formed the model exists to-day, and is regarded as the type 

 of a large group which is called Scarabaeus, individuals of which, some 

 of great size, are found in all parts of the world, the species described 

 amounting to over seven thousand. 



The ScarabsBus proper is shown in the lower centre of our cut, engaged 

 in a most characteristic operation. It gathers up particles of the dung of 

 various mammals, and in the centre a single egg is laid. The dung is 

 now pushed along with the head and the hind legs, until the rolling con- 

 verts it into a round, hard ball nearly two inches in diameter, which they 

 proceed to bury in a hole which thev excavate to the depth of a foot or 

 more. So far the history was known to the ancient Egyptians, but they 

 supposed that all the beetles were males. From these facts and supposi- 

 tions this beetle was held sacred and invested with a symbolism of deep 

 significance. It was the type "of the world, as P. Valerianus supposes, 



