284? HABITS AND INSTINCTS OP ANIMALS. CHAP. IX. 



they are to rear their young. Throughout the whole 

 of this class, we, at present, know but of one species 

 which may be said to unite in constructing one habita- 

 tion for the whole community, and thus forming a per- 

 fect society. 



(296.) There are many families of INSECTS which 

 may be placed under the class of associations we are 

 now considering, although their labours do not appear 

 strictly to regard themselves alone. The truth is, that 

 although we have, for the sake of precision, drawn a 

 distinction between perfect and imperfect societies, yet 

 as in all natural series .it is extremely difficult, if not 

 impossible, to determine where the one should cease, 

 and the other commence. Nature seems to abhor sud- 

 den and strongly marked divisions in the development 

 of brute faculties, no less than in the structure of their 

 bodies : both are gradual, and sometimes scarcely per- 

 ceptible. Thus the Scarabceus pilularis, or a species 

 nearly allied, never labours to remove the round balls 

 of dung they are so frequently removing, by itself ; two 

 individuals are always engaged in the task, and these 

 are, probably, the sexes. We have repeatedly been 

 amused by watching the efforts of these resolute little 

 creatures, for more than one species is common in the 

 island of Sicily ; but, conceiving that the history of so 

 remarkable an insect was well known, we neglected to 

 prosecute any researches in the matter. Do these in- 

 sects live in societies ? and are these balls conveyed to 

 their common dwelling ? This question, we believe, 

 cannot, at present, be positively answered. Somewhat 

 similar to this are the operations of the grave-digging 

 beetles (Necrophaga), which will assemble round the 

 dead body of a mole, or other small quadruped, and 

 'oin their labour to bury the carcase in the earth, before 

 they begin to devour it, or to deposit their eggs. In 

 either case, the work to be performed appears to be 

 beyond the skill or strength of an individual ; yet we 

 can scarcely place such insects in the list of those which 

 form perfect societies. Others, again, live in vast as- 



