Order 5. 



COLEOPTERA, 



523 



Fi^. 68.— Ateuchus (Scarabsua) 

 £f7ptloruui. 



«fith a leaf-like club ; four posterior tibiie, slender, elongate, not thickened at the tip, truncated obliquely and ter- 

 minated by a single spur, and with the outer margin of the elytra not sinuated near the base ; the clypeus is gene- 

 rally divided into three lobes, its edge presenting six teeth. 



These insects (which Mr. Mac Leay has described in his excellent Ilora: Entomologiccc) inclose their eggs in balls 

 of dung, or even of human excrement, like large pills, (whence they have been called PHularii,) which they roll 

 along with their hind feet (often in company), until they reach the hole in which they are to be deposited. Two of the 

 species were worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, and introduced into their hieroglyphical writings. Their 

 effigy is represented on all their monuments^ models of them were made of the most precious materials, and 

 formed into amulets, &c., suspended round the neck, and which were buried with the mummies. The insect itself 

 has been found in some of their coffins. 



/SVarafitgiM *(Tcer, Linn., found not only in the whole of Egypt, but in the south of France, Spain, and other 

 southern parts of Europe, has until lately been regarded as the object of this superstition ; but another species, dis- 

 covered in Sennari by &I. Caillaud, appears, from its more brilliant colours, and the country where it is found, 

 and which was the first residence of the Egyptians, to have attracted their earliest attention. I have named it 



Ateuchus Aigyptioi-um. (.See my Memoir on the Insects painted and sculptured 

 by the Egyptians, and the Works of Champollion.)— Some Ateuchi, having the 

 thorax and abdomen shorter, more rounded, and more convex, form the genus 

 Pachi/soma, Kirby, (S. Aisculapius, Oliv. and Hippocrates). [Mnematium, 

 Mac Leay, is closely allied to these. M. Ritchii, from the interior of Africa.] 



Gymnopleurus, lUig., differs in having the outer edge of the elytra strongly 

 notched near the base. The four posterior tibiae are very slightly spined. Ateu- 

 chus sinuatiis, pUularius, &c. 



Other Coprophagi, closely allied to the preceding, have the middle tibias (which 

 as well as the posterior are often thickened at the tips) furnished with two spurs. 

 The clypeus has in many species only four or two spines. 



Sisi/phus, Latr., has only 8-jointed antenn», and the abdomen triangular, with 

 very long hind legs. At. Schcefferi, Fab., and others [described by M. Gory in 

 his Monograph on this genus], 



CircelUum, Latr., has the body hemispherical, the abdomen semicircular, scu- 

 tellum wanting, and clypeus 6 or 4-toothed. At. Bacchus [Cape of Good Hope]. 

 Coprobius, Latr., is composed of New World species, without a scutellum ; body 

 ovoid, not convex, and the sides of the thorax angular. 

 Charidium, Ser\'ille and St. Fargeau, has shorter legs. We also unite their Hyhoma with Coprobius, 

 Eurysternus, Dalm. (JEschrotes, Serv.), possesses a scutellum, with the body oval-oblong. 

 Oniticellus, Zeigl. (with the body oblong and scutellum distinct), and Onthophagus (without a scutellum, and the 

 body short and broad), are exclusively distinguished by having the third joint of the labial palpi scarcely distinct, 

 and the preceding larger than the first. The last-named group is further distinguished by the males having the 

 head and thorax often cornuted, S.taurus, lAnn. [a very rare British species], the male of which has two lono- 

 curved horns on the head. [There are several other British species.] All the species are of small size. 



Onilis, Fab. (having the second joint of the labial palpi largest, the scutellum distinct, and the fore tibiae of the 

 males long and curved), and Phanaus, Mac Leay, (liaving the first joint of the labial palpi largest, the scutellum 

 replaced by a sutural space, the males cornuted, and the legs of equal size in both sexes, and composed of many fine 

 and large exotic species,) diflfer from the rest in having the second joint of the club of the antennas encased between the 

 two outer joints, and the thorax large. (See the Monograph of this genus by Mac Leay, in the Hora Entomoloqicie.) 

 Copris, Geoffr., as now restricted, comprises only such as have the club of the antenna; formed of three plates ; 

 the four hind tibiae greatly dilated and truncate at the tip ; the scutellum wanting ; the body thick and differing 

 in the sexes. The largest species inhabit the tropical parts of Africa and the East Indies. Scarahaus lunaris, 

 Linn, [is a local British species]. Eight lines long ; black and shiny, with an erect horn on the head of the males, 

 [It is found under dung in sandy places near London.] 



The terminal Coprophagi have the legs inserted at equal distances apart, the scutellum very distinct, and the 

 elytra covering the abdomen. In other respects they nearly approach the preceding subgenus, but the sexual 

 differences are less strongly marked, consisting only in slight tubercles. They appear at the commencement of 

 spring, Qiovering over every fresh deposit of animal excrement. This is the family of Aphodtichc, Macl.] 



Aphodius, lUig., has the inner lobe of the maxilla; not corneous nor dentate, the body is rarely short, and the 

 thorax not transversely strigose. Scar.fimetarius, Linn, [a very common British insect, and many other species], 

 Psammodius, Gyll., has the inner lobe of the maxillce corneous and with two teeth, the body short, and the thorax 

 transversely rugose, 

 Euparia, St, Farg. and Serv., also belongs to this section, apparently allied to Eurysternus, 



Psammodius naturally conducts us to the following section, ArenicoU, which, -with Aphodius and 

 Psammodius, are the only species in which the elytra entirely cover the abdomen : the mandibles are 

 horny, exposed, and curved ; the terminal lobe of the maxillae is straight, with few exceptions ; the 

 antennae are 10 or 11-jointed. These Beetles also live in dung, and form deep burrows in the earth ; 

 they fly about in the twilight after sunset, and counterfeit death when alarmed, [The ArenicoU form 

 two sections, corresponding to the families Geotrupidce and Trogidce, Mac Leay.] 



