THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 135 
distance whenever a pellet was disposed of, regardless of its 
destination and position, thus reminding one of the story of 
the ow] who laid its eggs in a nest with a hole in it, each ege 
falling through as it was produced. Another thing that struck 
me was the immense amount of muscular power the beetle 
possessed, for it often hoisted the pellet quite off the surface 
of the ground over which it was pulling the treasure, especially 
when any more than common obstacle stood in its way.— 
G. B. Corbin. 
[I wish Mr. Corbin had informed us the name of the 
beetle. Was it Typhceus, Stercorarius, or Sylvaticus? Again, 
I wish Mr. Corbin had given more precise information as to 
the cause of death: the presence of ants is not sufficient to 
account for the mortality. In walking over Woking Common 
I once took the pains to count the specimens of 'Typhceus 
which I found on the turf, and these were in the proportion 
of fifteen dead ones to one live one. Another common 
heath-species is often in the same disproportion. Did Mr. 
Corbin ascertain whether the beetles confined themselves to 
collecting pellets of rabbits’-dung? because this would be an 
interesting fact, and perhaps assist in determining the species. 
—KHdward Newman.) 
Pollen-eating Insects.—Entomologists who consider that 
a complete knowledge of insects consists in an acquaintance 
with their external form, doubt whether it is possible for 
insects, and especially for those which, like the Diptera, are 
- not furnished with mandibles, to eat pollen. Indeed, I have 
been assured, by a well-known professor at one of our great 
seats of learning, that the thing is impossible, and therefore 
absurd. Nature, however, is of a different opinion from that 
of the learned professor as to its impossibility. Having 
satisfied myself long ago that Diptera are great consumers of 
pollen, I was pleased to find a full confirmation of the fact 
in the writings of the German botanist and entomologist 
Hermann Miiller, of Lippstadt, who has paid more attention 
to the mode of fertilization of different kinds of flowers than 
any other living naturalist. In his book, ‘ Die Befruchtung 
der Blumen durch Insekten,’ will be found, by anyone who 
can read German, a full description, accompanied by 
admirable drawings, of the various contrivances by which 
this is effected. The pollen-eating propensities of the 
