ORDER COLEOPTERA. 459 



fonn, and the longest and thickest of all, and in which the 

 internal lobe of the jaws is corneous, and divided into two 

 teeth. The body is short, with the corslet furrowed trans- 

 versely, and the abdomen inflated.* 



This sub-genus conducts us naturally to the first of the 

 following section, that of the Arenicoli. These scara- 

 beides are, with the aphodii and psammodii, the only ones 

 whose elytra entirely cover the abdomen, so that the anus 

 is concealed ; but many characters distinguish them from the 

 latter. The labrum is coriaceous and most frequently 

 out-edges the hood. The mandibles are corneous, usually 

 projecting and arched. The lobe terminating the jaws is 

 straight, and not curved internally. The third and last 

 articulation of the labial palpi is always very distinct, and 

 almost as long, at least, as the preceding. Some excepted, 

 the antennae are composed of ten or eleven articulations. 



These coleoptera also live on dung, dig deep holes in the 

 earth, fly more especially in the evening, after the setting 

 of the sun, and counterfeit death when they are taken in 

 the hand. M. Leon Dufour informs us that the digestive 

 canal of Geotrupes, one of the principal sub-genera of this 

 section, has a little less extent than that of Copris, and that 



» I refer here, only the Psammodius svlcicollis of M. Gyllenhall. (Insect. 

 Siiec. I. p. 9.) The other species, the first excepted, (see JEgialia,) are 

 true aphodii. See Encyc. Method., Article, Psammodii. 



The genus Eupaiuaj established in the Encyclopedie Methodique, by 

 M.M. Lepeletier and Serville, belong without any doubt to this section ; 

 but as they have not been marked completely, and as I have not seen the 

 species, which serves as type, I cannot assign its place. According to 

 them, the sides of the head are dilated, and form a triangle. The poste- 

 rior angles of the corslet are emarginated, and the humeral angles of the 

 elytra are prolonged in front, in the manner of a point. The only species 

 pointed out is the E. castanea. These characters, and the colour, make 

 me suspect that this genus is greatly approximating to that of JEurt/sicrnus 

 of M. Dalman, of which we have spoken. 



