BRITISH INSECTS 



roses, strawberries, and turnips. The larvje live in 

 the ground for two or three years, and are similar to 

 those of M. vulgaris. 



Many species of Scarahceidce, like the one which 

 follows, are dung-feeders, but the most famous is the 

 so-called Sacred Scarab of the Egyptian desert about 

 which Henri Fabre has written so arrestingly. This, 

 and others of its kin, roll excrement into round balls 

 with the hind legs until a suitable spot is reached where 

 the curious meal can be partaken of at leisure. 



The Dor Beetle {Geotrupes stercorarius Fig. 16), is 



"* ^M 



t'q ife Dot- I^>^t> ri? 



the all-black fellov^ with droning flight met with of a 

 Summer evening when twilight shadows fall. It whizzes 

 past on unerring wings, singing cheerfully as it pursues 

 its airy course. On the underside of the body the 

 adult is steel-blue, with a green or purple gloss. The 

 eggs are laid in manure heaps, and in this warm retreat 

 the larva passes the Winter. The latter is not a harmful 

 creature, and acts as one of the sanitary agents of Nature. 

 The handsome Stag Beetle {Lucanus cervtis, Fig. 17), 

 48 



