COLEOPTEBA. 



469 



then mount it, cast the earth down into the grave so as to 

 fill it, and the females lay their eggs in the tomb, where the 

 larvae will find an abundance of food. When the ground is too 

 hard to be dug, the Necrophori push the carcass further, till 



Fig. 454. Hister rugosus. 



Fig. 455.-Silphaquadripunctata. 



Fig, 456. Silpha 

 thoracica. 



they find permeable soil. A mole has been run through with 

 a stick, or else tied by a string, to see how the Necrophori would 

 get over the difficulty. They scooped out the soil underneath 

 the stick, and cut through the string, and the mole was buried in 



Fig. 457. Necrodea littoralis 

 (male). 



Fig. 458. Necrodes littoralis 

 (female). 



Fig. 459. Neorodes lacry- 

 mosa. 



spite of the obstacles. Fig. 460 represents a troop of Necrophori 

 burying a small rat. 



The Necrophorus vespillo (Fig. 461) is variegated with yellow 

 and black ; the Necrophorus germanicus (Fig. 462) is larger, quite 

 black, and rarer. All these insects exhale a disagreeable musky 

 smell. Their bodies are often covered with parasites, which 



