THE INSECTS OF THE GREEN LANES. 183 



honey, and is carried by them to their nest, where it 

 lives on " bee-food." 



The Sexton or Burying beetles cannot fail to be 

 obtruded on your notice in country lanes, for it is 

 there they abound. Their common name is derived 

 from their habit of burying the carcases of dead 

 reptiles, birds, &c., which they do very neatly, 

 having laid their eggs in them previously, and thus 

 prepared for the wants of an offspring they will 

 never see. Their generic name is Necrophorus, and 

 we have many native species common in this country. 

 Like those already named, they have the power of 

 emitting a repelling stench which, in their case, is 

 exuded from the mouth instead of the tail. Any 

 quantity of these beetles may be obtained near 

 where the carcases of moles are suspended, or where 

 gamekeepers have nailed up, as trophies, the sup- 

 posed enemies of their charge. 



Before we proceed to notice other common insects of 

 our lanes, it will be well to glance at a beetle known 

 as the " Skip-jack," from its being able to jerk itself 

 on its legs after being turned over on its back, which 

 is often the case, as it is liable to a capsize on account 

 of its short legs. It springs to its proper position by 

 arching its body, and driving the base of its elytra 

 against the ground, much after the fashion of the 

 old wooden frog-shaped toys, which are made to 

 jump by means of the detachment of a piece of wood 

 placed underneath, from a waxed surface. Compared 

 with their size, these insects will jump to a sur- 



