The Sacred Beetle and Others 



In this marvel of beauty, so severe and 

 dignified in shape and colouring, one point 

 above all captivates me and at last provides 

 me with the solution of a far-reaching 

 problem. Have the fore-legs a tarsus, yes 

 or no? This is the great matter that makes 

 ime neglect the jewel for the sake of a 

 structural detail. Let us then return to a 

 subject that used to excite me in my early 

 days, for the answer has come at last, late, 

 it is true, but certain and indisputable. The 

 probabilities which were all that my first 

 investigations could give me turn into cer- 

 tainties established by overwhelming evi- 

 dence. 



By a very strange exception, the full- 

 grown Sacred Beetle and his congeners have 

 no front tarsi : they lack on their fore-limbs 

 the five-jointed finger which is the rule 

 among the highest section of Beetles, the 

 Pentamera. The remaining legs, on the 

 other hand, follow the general law and 

 possess a very well-shaped tarsus. Does 

 this curious formation of the toothed fore- 

 arms date from birth, or is it accidental? 



At first sight, an accident seems not un- 

 likely. The Sacred Beetle is a strenuous 

 miner and a great pedestrian. Always in 

 contact with the rough soil, whether in 



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