

The Burying-Beetles: The Burial . 



outstrip the ultimate reactions of mineral 

 chemistry. 



White, naked, blind, possessing the cus- 

 tomary attributes of life spent in the dark, 

 the larva, with its tapering outline, is slightly 

 reminiscent of the Ground-beetles'. The 

 mandibles are black and powerful and make 

 excellent dissecting-scissors. The limbs are 

 short, but capable of a quick, toddling gait. 

 The segments of the abdomen are clad on 

 the upper surface in a narrow red plate, 

 armed with four little spikes, whose office ap- 

 parently is to furnish points of support when 

 the larva quits the natal dwelling and dives 

 into the soil, there to undergo the transforma- 

 tion. The thoracic segments are provided 

 with wider plates, but unarmed. 



The adults discovered in the company of 

 their larval family, in this putrescence which 

 was a Rat, are all abominably verminous. 

 So shiny and neat in their attire, when at 

 work under the first Moles of April, the 

 Necrophori, when June approaches, become 

 odious to look upon. A layer of parasites 

 envelops them; insinuating itself into the 

 joints, it forms an almost continuous crust. 

 The insect presents a misshapen appearance 

 under this overcoat of vermin, which my hair- 

 313 



