Onthophagi and Oniticelli 



decorations ! These peace-lovers delight in 

 the panoply of war, as though they, the in- 

 offensiv^e ones, thirsted for battle. Many of 

 them crown their heads with threatening 

 horns. Let us mention a couple of the 

 horned ones whose story will occupy us more 

 particularly. I mean, first, the Bull Ontho- 

 phagus (0. taurus), clad in raven black. 

 He wears a pair of long horns, gracefully 

 curved and branching to either side. No 

 pedigree bull, in the Swiss meadows, can 

 match them for curve or elegance. The 

 second is the Forked Onthophagus (O. 

 furcatus)^ who is much smaller. His equip- 

 ment consists of a fork with three vertical 

 prongs. 



There you have the two chief subjects of 

 this brief Onthophagus biography. The 

 others are equally worthy of being chroni- 

 cled. From first to last, they would all sup- 

 ply us with interesting details, some of them 

 even with peculiarities unknown elsewhere; 

 but we must draw the line somewhere in this 

 multitude, which is difficult to observe in the 

 aggregate. And there is this more serious 

 circumstance, that my choice has not been 

 free : I have had to content myself with the 

 few lucky discoveries made as the result of 

 chance encounters out of doors and with the 



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