BEETLES. 37 



often seen rolling balls of it along the ground, which they after- 

 wards bury as a nidus for their progeny. S. Sacer is found all 

 round the Mediterranean ; and several allied species are found in 

 the deserts, where they are said to contribute in no small degree to 

 the gradual improvement of the soil by the zeal with which they 

 bury every particle of camel's dung as soon as it is dropped. 

 S. Sacer is black, oval, with a broad, flat, dentated head, and is 

 nearly an inch long. Its nearest ally among our British species is 

 Copris Lunaris, Linn., a black species, about three-quarters of an 

 inch in length, with a broad flat head, armed with a long horn 

 in the middle in the male. Some of the exotic species are of 

 great size and singular shapes. Heliocopris Gigas, Linn., is a very 

 large, black, heavy-looking beetle, found in all parts of Africa and 

 the East Indies, with two horns on the top of the head in the 

 male, projections at the front angles of the thorax, and a very 

 thick projection directed forwards from the middle of its upper 

 portion, which is slightly bidentate at the tip. Some exotic genera of 

 this sub-family are of brighter colours than its European and North 

 African representatives. In the South American genus Phanceus, 

 Macl., the beetles are varied with green or purple, and furnished 

 with a horn on the head about half an inch long. These beetles 

 are very thick and heavy-looking, and are nearly an inch long, 

 with strongly striated elytra. 



SUB-FAMILY II. Aphodiince. 



Antennae nine-jointed; club composed of three lamellae; clypeus 

 covering the mouth; scutellum distinct; middle coxae near together. 



The Aphodiince are small dung-beetles, resembling cockchafers 

 in miniature, which may often be seen flying about over dusty 

 roads. They are black, reddish, or yellowish, highly polished, and 

 oval, and rarely exceed a quarter of an inch in length. dEgialia 

 Arenaria, Fabr., is a blackish insect with undeveloped wings, often 

 met with on sandhills near the sea. 



SUB-FAMILY III. Orphnince. 



Antennae ten-jointed; club large, three-jointed; clypeus not 

 covering the mouth ; middle coxae approximate, oblique. 



A small group, confined, in Europe, to the south. The largest 

 species is Hybalus Dorcas, Fabr., a black beetle, one-third of an inch 

 in length. 



