COLEOPTEUA. 403 



and spiniform or acuminated spur; and finally, in wiiich the epistoma 

 is more or less lobate or dentated, form the genus 



Ateuchus, Web. Fab., 



Since, however, restricted to those species in which the exterior 

 margin of the elytra is straight, or unemarginated and without a 

 sinus near their base exposing the corresponding portion of the 

 superior margin of the abdomen. The tibiae and tarsi of the four 

 last legs are furnished with long hairs; the four first joints of the 

 tarsi are generally longer than in the others. The first joint of the 

 labial palpi is nearly cylindrical, or in the form of a reversed cone. 

 The epistoma is most commonly divided into three lobes or festoons, 

 and its contour presents six teeth. 



These Insects, which M. Mac Leay, Jun., in his ingenious Horae 

 Entomologiceef I, p. 184, designates by the generic appellation of 

 Scarabseus, as being the name originally bestowed upon them by the 

 Latins(l), and of which in the same work — part II, p. 497 — he gives 

 an excellent Monograph, conceal their ova in balls of dung, and even 

 of human faeces, so similar to large pills that some authors have 

 given them the name of Pilularia. They roll them alon *with their 

 hind feet, and frequently in company, until they find a hole fitted to 

 receive them, or a soil in which they can bury them. 



Two species of Ateuchus were worshipped by the ancient Egyp- 

 tians, and formed a part of their system of hieroglyphics. They 

 are sculptured in various positions, and sometimes of gigantic di- 

 mensions, on all their monuments. They were also figured sepa- 

 rately and on the most precious materials, such as gold; they used 

 them as seals and as amulets, which were suspended to the neck and 

 buried with the mummies. The Insect itself has been found in 

 some of their coffins(2). The 



Jl. sacer; Scarabaeus sacer, L.; Oliv., Col. I, 3, VIII, 59, 

 which is found not only in all Egypt but in the south of France, 

 in Spain, Italy, and the south of Europe generally, has hitherto 

 been considered the pbject of this superstitious distinction; but 

 another species discovered in Sennar by^M. Caillaud of Nantes, 

 appears from its more brilliant colours, and the country in 

 which it is found, the original residence of the Egyptians, to 

 have first attracted their attention. The latter; which I have 

 named the Menchus des Egyptiens—Voy. a Meroe, au fleuve 



(1) The Heliocantharos of the Greeks. 

 41 (2) See my memoir on the Insects painted and sculptured on the ancient mon- 

 uments of Egypt, and the works of M. de Champollion, Jun. 



