MANUAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 175 



rhus, or the Helmet-Beetle. In confirmation of their 

 beauty the advocate of the beetles may point to 

 our native Rose-Chaffer, and bid us gaze on the 

 splendour of the Sun-Beetles and the Diamond- 

 Beetles. 



The utility of these despised creatures to lordly 

 man is by no means so great as the loss they occasion 

 him by the depredations of their larvse ; we may, 

 however, refer to the useful labours of the Blister- 

 Beetles, the Carrion-Beetles, the Dung-Beetles, and 

 the Rove-Beetles, to enlist our sympathy in their 

 behalf ; while to prove the importance of becoming 

 acquainted with their habits we may allude to the 

 ravages of the Turnip-Fly, the Chaffer's-Grubs, the 

 Corn- Weevils, the Skin-Beetles, the Book- Worms, 

 and the Wood-Borers. Beetles, like Butterflies, pass 

 through several stages in their lives, being hatched 

 from eggs, then existing as greedy grubs (often 

 mischievous withal), next becoming inert chrysalids, 

 and finally assuming their nuptial attire, in which 

 they prosecute their loves and are often seen no 

 more. The instinctive sagacity of our little favourites 

 is also worthy of our notice, whether we contemplate 

 the Sexton-Beetles burying the bodies of the dead as 

 nutriment for their own young progeny, the Bom- 

 badier-Beetles repelling their enemies by repeated 

 discharges of an acrid vapour, a kind of small artil- 

 lery, or the cunning Mimic and Pill-Beetles, Hister 

 and Byrrhus, feigning death when they fall into 

 the hands of their enemies, and thus escaping de- 

 struction. 



