CHAPTER X 



INSECT COLOURING 



PHANjEUS SPLENDIDULUS, the glit- 

 tering, the resplendent : this is the epithet 

 selected by the official nomenclators to de- 

 scribe the handsomest Dung-beetle of the 

 pampas. The name is not at all exaggerated. 

 Combining the fire of gems with metallic 

 lustre, the insect, according to the incidence 

 of the light, emits the green reflections of the 

 emerald or the gleam of ruddy copper. The 

 muck-raker would do honour to the jeweller's 

 show-cases. 



For the rest, our own Dung-beetles, 

 though usually modest in their attire, also 

 have a leaning toward luxurious ornament. 

 One Onthophagus decorates his corselet 

 with Florentine bronze; another wears 

 garnets on his wing-cases. Black above, the 

 Mimic Geotrupes is the colour of copper 

 pyrites below; also black in all parts exposed 

 to the light of day, the Stercorarius Geo- 

 trupes displays a ventral surface of a glorious 

 amethyst violet. 



Many other series, of greatly varied 

 273 



