48 



ZOOLOGY 



animal is irritated, is raised as though to sting (Fig. 45). 



These beetles feed upon decaying animal and plant matter; 



consequently they are useful scavengers. Some species in- 

 habit the nests of ants and of termites, 

 but their relations with their hosts are 

 unknown. The larvae are not unlike the 

 adults, and inhabit similar situations. 



The carrion or sexton beetles (Silphi- 

 dse 1 ) are usually of medium or large 

 size, and are either stout-bodied, with 

 red spots on each elytron (Necro- 

 phorus 2 ), or very much flattened and 



FIG. 46. Silpha amer- .,,,,. T -, , . /o., , T ^. 4f *^ 



icana, a carrion bee- With thin-edged elytra (Silpha, 1 ig. 46). 



tie. From " standard The species of Necrophorus are power- 

 Natural History." 



lul animals. When one or more pairs 



of these beetles discover a dead bird or small mammal 



on the ground, they dig out the earth from underneath 



and pile it upon the animal until eventually the car- 



cass is entirely buried. Then 



the female deposits her eggs 



upon the body, so that a rich 



supply of food is provided for 



the young larvae which hatch 



from the eggs. The members 



of the genus Silpha do not bury 



a carcass, but live and rear their 



young beneath it. 



While the families of beetles hitherto considered are 

 in general useful to man by acting as scavengers or by 

 destroying insects injurious to vegetation, we have now 



FIG. 47. Anthrenus, the muse- 

 um pest, a dermestid. Left, 

 larva ; middle, pupa ; right, 

 adult. From Packard. 



7, an ill-smelling insect. 

 2 veicpfa, a dead body ; 0<?/>w, to bear. 



