The Sacred Beetle and Others 



few successful experiments made in the 

 vivarium. 



Two species only, the two which I have 

 named, have proved satisfactory in both 

 directions. Let us watch them at work. 

 They will show us the principal features of 

 the manner of life led by the whole tribe, 

 for they occupy the two extremes of the scale 

 of sizes, the Bull Onthophagus being one of 

 the largest and the Forked Onthophagus one 

 of the smallest. 



We will speak first of the nest. Contrary 

 to my expectation, the Onthophagi are in- 

 different nest-builders. With them we find 

 no spheres rolled joyously in the sunshine, 

 no ovoids manipulated laboriously in an 

 underground workshop. Their business, 

 that of reducing filth to dust, appears to give 

 them so much to do that they have no time 

 left for work demanding prolonged patience. 

 They confine themselves to what is strictly 

 necessary and most rapidly obtained. 



A perpendicular well is dug, a couple of 

 inches deep, cylindrical in shape and varying 

 in bore according to the size of the well- 

 sinker. The pit of the Forked Onthophagus 

 has the diameter of a lead-pencil; that of the 

 Bull Onthophagus is twice the width. Right 

 at the bottom are the grub's provisions, 



252 



