THE HOME OF THE GOPHER. 107 



me. In subsequent explorations I recaptured this in- 

 sect, which proves to be a Philonthus hitherto unde- 

 scribed, and remarkable for its slenderness of stature, 

 its lack of color, and the distinctly subterranean ap- 

 pearance which marks a true cave insect and dweller 

 in darkness. As I approached the end of the burrow, 

 the sand became fairly alive with larvae and imagoes 

 of a small Aphodius beetle, also a colorless and unde- 

 scribed species, very subterranean in appearance. 



"At the extreme end of the tunnel I found the 

 gopher, quiescent but not dormant and resting upon 

 a thin layer of fibrous material, evidently the winter 

 accumulation of its excreta, in which could be plainly 

 discerned the coarser and undigested portions of the 

 leaves and vegetation which formed its food. Beneath 

 this layer the sand was mined in every direction with 

 the burrows of insects, and I soon had a considerable 

 collection, among which was a Copris beetle, which, 

 from its size and general appearance, I took without 

 doubt to be the universally distributed Copris min- 

 utus of our barnyards. But, upon comparison with 

 the known forms of the genus, this proves to be quite 

 a new and distinct species. 



"Besides the main deposit of refuse matter upon 

 which the animal was resting, I found several smaller 

 deposits which had evidently been pressed aside and 

 partly imbedded in the sand by the movements of the 

 turtle. These were all centers of attraction for the 

 dung-eating beetles, but I found lurking in one of 



