510 SUPPLEMENT 



beds of gardens where this tan is employed. After coupling, 

 which takes place in June or July, the female burrows under 

 such places, for the purpose of depositing her eggs. They 

 are oblong, about the size of a grain of hempseed, and of 

 a clear yellow. The larva is disclosed at the end of five or 

 six weeks. It is of a dirty yellow, mingled with grey, with 

 the head of a lively red, sown with little points. In its form 

 and attitude it otherwise resembles that of the other Scara- 

 bseidas. It is believed not to arrive at its full growth, and 

 pass into the nymph-state, until after the lapse of four or five 

 years. It then constructs for itself an oval shell, elongated, 

 and very smooth in the interior. The nymph remains there 

 a longer or shorter time, constantly lying on the back. 

 When it becomes the perfect insect, the animal, to give suffi- 

 cient time for all its parts to acquire firmness, does not quit 

 its retreat until the end of about a month. 



Swammerdam, Roesel, &c. have given us some curious 

 anatomical observations on this species, but rather too much 

 detailed for us to follow here. Reaumur seems to be of opi- 

 nion that the larvae of this species would constitute very good 

 eating, and recommends that they should be sought for 

 " dans les couches de fumier^'' In this recommendation we 

 cannot exactly concur, though it is very probable that the 

 grubs and larvae of many coleoptera, as well as other insects, 

 might be eaten with the greatest safety. 



Pliny and other writers, have designated collectively vari- 

 ous kinds of coleoptera, and even some orthoptera, such as 

 the grylli, under the name of ScaraB/eus. This denomina- 

 tion is partly synonimous with that of cantharos, employed 

 by the Greeks. The moderns, in preserving the former name, 

 have assigned it to a single genus of insects only. The scarabasi 

 were confounded by Linnaeus with melolontha, trox, and 

 some others. Geoffroy simply divided all these insects into 

 two genera, preserving the denomination scarabcBuSy for the 



