68 



PRACTICAL ZOOLOGY 



rolling large balls of dung to some burying place for the purpose 

 of laying their eggs in it and thus storing up a food supply for 

 their offspring. One of these dung beetles is the Sacred Scara- 

 baeus which was held in high veneration by the ancient Egyptians 

 and was used as a model for gems, was painted on sarcophagi, 

 and carved in stone. 



FIG. 43. Scarab beetles, or tumblebugs, rolling an egg-ball of dung. Egyptian 

 sculptures of sacred scarab. (After Brehm.) 



Pollinization of Flowers. Another indirect benefit derived 

 by man from insects is the result of the relation between bees, 

 wasps, etc., and flowers. Before seeds can be produced, the 

 pollen grains which are borne by the stamens of the flower 

 (Fig. 44, E,sta) must become attached to the style (s) of the same 

 kind of flower, where it fertilizes the ovule (0) from which the seed 

 develops. It has been found by experiments that when the 

 pollen from one flower fertilizes the ovules of another flower (a 

 process known as cross-pollination), better seed and more seed 



