DUNG-BEETLES. 87 



indeed, are not aquatic, but live in the mud of the 

 sides of ponds and streams, whilst those which pass 

 their existence in the water are always found adhering 

 to subaquatic objects, a proceeding which is greatly 

 facilitated by their long tarsi terminated with large 

 claws. It is remarkable that some of these species, 

 although exceedingly sluggish in their movements, 

 are found in rapid streams and brooks, where they 

 often adhere to the lower surface of stones at the 

 bottom of the water. 



Even amongst the typical species (Palpicornes), 

 there are many which never come near the water at 

 all, but pass their whole existence in the dung of her- 

 bivorous animals. Immersed in this rather unsavoury 

 substance, these beetles may always be found in abun- 

 dance during the spring and early summer, or if the 

 student be of too fastidious a disposition to seek them 

 in their home, he may generally see examples of some 

 of the species hovering over freshly dropped dung on 

 fine sunny days. These insects are of a hemispherical 

 or somewhat ovate form, and always of small size. 

 The largest, and one of the commonest species, is the 

 Sphaeridium scarabceoides, a glossy black beetle of 

 about a quarter of an inch in length, with a reddish 

 spot near the base of each elytron, and a yellowish 

 patch at the apex. The majority of the species belong 

 to the genus Cercyon, which consists of minute shining 

 black beetles, with the whole or part of the elytra 

 very frequently bright red or yellow. 



If we are compelled, in search of the beetles just 

 mentioned, to poke about industriously in excrementi- 

 tious matters, an operation under which we can only 



