CONTENTS. 



40. THE SCARABjETJS AND ITS MODERN WORSHIPPERS. 



Ascending the tombstone to the right, is the 'Churchyard Beetle (Blaps morti- 

 saga) y distinguished by its intense blackness. Next, on the ground below, 

 is a small, black, shining Dung Beetle (one of the Histeridoe) : and ad- 

 jacent, a pair of black and orange Necrophori, notable for their industry 

 in interment of animal remains. Climbing the grass above, is the Silpha 

 quadri/punctata, a black and yellow feeder upon carrion ; and in descending 

 flight, lessened by distance, is that most common of beetle scavengers, the 

 Dor, or Clock (Geotrupes stercorarius) ....... 110 



" The Scarabceus, an amasser of filth, fit emblem of mammon- 

 worship." 



The Dung Beetle, set up on high for the adoration of the sordid . . . 125 



41. INSECT DIRGE-PLAYERS. 



Entering at the open casement, appear the head and shoulders of a Death's- 

 head Moth (Acherontla, Atropos). The table below is occupied by two 

 Deathwatch Beetles (Anobwm tessellatum and A. pertinax), while another 

 (Anobium striatum) is creeping up the wall above. Ah 1 three are drawn 

 much larger than life .......... 126 



" Phantoms foot it to the DeatTiwatch drum." 



A dance of death got up, at Superstition's bidding, to the beat of the dreaded 

 Deathwatch . ........... 143 



42. SHORT LIVES AND LONG. 



The insects chosen for this Vignette are such as afford examples either of 

 longevity, of brevity of existence, or of great disproportions in the 

 length of its several stages. The Brown Weevil (Curculio), a feeder on 

 decayed wood, at the right hand corner, gives an instance of longevity, 

 contrasted by the brief duration of the Ephemeral Day-fly (Baetes), 

 which rises upwards on the left. In this Ephemera there are two instead 

 of (as in E. vidgata) three filaments, proceeding from the extremity of 

 the body. On the right, is a common Cockchafer (MelolontJia vulgaris) ; 

 another of the same species, just arrived at maturity, is pushing up- 

 wards from the grass; while a third, yet in its stage of larva, is 



