ROVE-BEETLES AND CHAFERS. 557 



an inch or more in length, and are black, with orange-red bands on the 



elytra. They are remarkable for their habit of interring the bodies of small 



animals, such as mice or birds, which they may find lying 



about, by scooping out the earth underneath, dragging and Burying-Beetles. 



stamping them down, and covering them up. The females 



are buried with the carcase, on which they deposit their eggs, and then make 



their way back to the surface. We have figured Necrophorus vespillo (Linn.), 



one of the commonest species. 



There is a group of beetles allied to, and sometimes included in, the Necro- 

 phaga, called, from their aquatic habits, the Philhydrida. The largest 

 species, Hydrous piceus (Linn.), is a shining black beetle, 

 longer, narrower, and more convex than the species of WatoMBteetie 

 Dytiscus, from which its short-clubbed antennae and much 

 longer hind legs will at once distinguish it. It is sometimes called the 

 great water-beetle. 



The Lamellicornes or chafers form a very interesting and important group of 

 beetles, but are not very numerous in Europe. They are distinguished by 

 the structure of their antennae, which are short, and 

 furnished at the extremity with a series of flat plates, which Chafers, 

 spread out like a fan. They feed on plants or dung, and 

 Borne species are very destructive. They are stout, round, or oblong beetles 

 of considerable size. Many of the species are black, but others exhibit 

 much variety of colour. There are many large species among them, and 

 they are frequently furnished with great horns, largest in the males, 

 and often assuming very strange shapes, on different parts of the head and 

 thorax. 



The dung-beetles or Scarabceidw (a name sometimes applied to all the 

 Lamellicornes) are generally black and shining, though sometimes inclin- 

 ing to greenish or purple, especially beneath. They have 

 strongly toothed and flattened legs for digging. Some Dung-Beetles. 

 species, like the Egyptian sacred beetle, form pellets 



of dung which they roll to a suitable place, 

 and in this deposit their eggs. This insect, 

 Scarabceus sacer(Linn.), is common throughout the 

 Mediterranean region, and is black, with a broad 

 flat head, with a vertical spine in the middle, and 

 strongly dentated on the front curve. There are a 

 number of species of more or less similar appear- 

 ance and habits, several of which are represented 

 on Egyptian monuments. 



Our common black dung-beetles belong to the 

 genus Geotrupes (Fabr)., and have a much smaller 

 head than the sacred beetles. They fly in a 

 straight line in the evening, as in the time of 

 Shakespeare, who speaks of the "shardhorn beetle 

 with his drowsy hum." They are frequently much 

 il 1 lfested Wit , h 7 mifces - / The smaller dung-beetles of 

 sacer t Linn.). " e genus Aphodius (Illiger) are more numerous in 



species, and more various in colour. They re- 

 semble very small cock-chafers in appearance, and rnay often be seen flying 

 about dung in the sunshine. 



The Melolonthidce include the true cock-chafers, Our species, Melolontha 



