92 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



delights to settle upon banks with a southern aspect, and to 

 run about upon soil that has been rendered so hot by the sun 

 that the bare hand can hardly endure contact with its surface. 



The larvae are most remarkable beings. They are whitish 

 in colour, and strangely moulded in form, the head being of 

 enormous size, and of a homy consistency, and the eighth seg- 

 ment developed into a hump-like projection, carrying upon its 

 upper surface a pair of bent hooks. The larva never is seen 

 above the surface of the ground, and, indeed, never exhibits 

 more than the smooth horny head and mandibles. It lives in 

 perpendicular burrows, about a foot in depth, which it is able 

 to traverse with great rapidity, and which are only just ot suffi- 

 cient diameter to permit the inhabitant to pass up and down. 



It is a carnivorous being, feeding chiefly on insects, which it 

 is able to capture, in spite of the apparent disadvantage under 

 which it labours of being confined to one spot. The mode by 

 which it obtains its daily food is as follows. Ascending to the 

 upper portion of its burrow, it fixes itself firmly by means of its 

 hooks, and then lays its jaws level with the soil. While in this 

 attitude, it is almost invisible, and as soon as an insect passes 

 by the ambushed larva, the sickle-like jaws grasp it, and it is 

 dragged to the bottom of the tunnel, where it is devoured. 



The barrow is made by the larva, and not by the parent, and 

 is a work of some little time, the earth being loosened by means 

 of the feet and jaws, and then carried to the surface on the 

 flattened head. 



Other beetles are in the habit of driving deep tunnels into 

 the ground, wherein may be deposited the eggs which are des- 

 tined to produce a fresh brood in the ensuing season. Our own 

 country can boast of possessing many such beetles, but in the 

 hotter parts of the world their number is quite wonderful. 



Our first example will be the well-known Sexton, or Bury- 

 ing Beetles. There are several species of Burying Beetles ; 

 but as their habits are very similar, they need not be separately 

 described. Anyone who wishes to see them at work may do 

 so by taking a dead mouse, bird, or piece of meat, and laying 



