i88 



INSECTS 



Conspicuous in appearance and habit are the bury- 

 ing beetles and carrion beetles, their names indicative 

 of their functions. They are often of moderate or large 

 size and at the end of the feelers the club is capitate or 

 shaped like a head, an arrangement that permits the 

 organization of an extremely sensitive olfactory system. 

 The sense of smell in these insects is so well developed 

 indeed, that even a small dead animal is unerringly 



located very soon after its 

 demise. I have seen these 

 beetles climb to the tip of 

 a twig, extend the antennae 

 in every direction with the 

 leaves of the tip widely sep- 

 arated, and then fly in a 

 straight line and without hes- 

 itation in the direction from 

 which, apparently, an agree- 

 able odor was perceived. The 

 burying beetles are so called 

 because of their habit of 

 digging out the soil from 

 beneath a small animal un- 

 til it sinks down to or below 



the level of the ground, and the powerful head, thorax 

 and legs are well adapted for this kind of work. The 

 carrion beetles are quite as prompt in their arrival, 

 but do not work in the same way. They are content 

 with ovipositing on or under the cadaver, trusting the 

 resulting larvae to their own devices. And what a lot 

 and variety of these carrion beetles there are! Species 

 so small as to be almost invisible to the unaided eye, 

 and others an inch or more in length. Species smooth 

 and shining so that none of the material in which they 

 live can adhere to them, and species covered with fine 



FIG. 85. A burying beetle, Necro 

 phorus americanus . 



