BURYING BEETLE. 



SOME USEFUL INSECTS. 239 



that are going on all around you moles, 



shrews, field mice, rats, frogs, 



lizards, squirrels, dormice, bats, 



hedgehogs, to say nothing of 



birds that die, but how seldom 



we find their bodies. What 



becomes of them ? 



Of course a great many of the 

 smaller animals die a violent death, 

 die between the jaws of their destroyers. An 

 enormous number, however, die a natural death, 

 worn out with the ever continuous struggle to 

 live, done to death by accident, disease, or in 

 fierce fight with rivals. What becomes of their 

 bodies ? Do they get a decent burial ? 



The sexton or burial beetle is the great grave- 

 digger for these more lowly animals. 



A mouse lies down to die. Two beetles or 

 more, about an inch in length, with two bright 

 orange bands on their hard wing-covers, come 

 flying to the spot. 



They settle on the dead mouse, and then quietly 

 and carefully gather together their powerful 

 wings, with which they really fly, and cover 

 them over with their hard protective wing- 

 covers. 



The beetles are then armour-plated from stem 

 to stern. 



They are a tough morsel, but sometimes very 



