INSECT LIFE IN INDIA . 435 



and clever priests, as can be traced in so many of the ordi- 

 nances observed by the different creeds throughout India, having 

 studied the habits of the insects and observed that they acted as 

 scavengers, forbade the killing of such useful animals and to ensure the 

 order being carried out caused them to be regarded as sacred. This would 

 be all the easier, owing to the fact that the actions of the beetles to the 

 uninitiated must appear exceedingly curious. It is said that the inhabit- 

 ants of the valley of the Nile thought the movements of these beetles, 

 when rolling their balls, were typical of the planetary and lunar rovolu- 

 tions ; and that the sudden appearance of the beetles after a period of 

 complete absence (which, of course, though unknown to them was passed 

 as the egg, grub and pupa in the ground) was emblematic of a futura 

 life. Although the exact habits of our Indian representatives of the 

 group have not been as yet worked out, it is possible to give a 

 very fair idea of the life history of some of the common species to be 

 met with in the country. The beetles act as scavengers by breaking up 

 and burying the droppings of cattle. The female scarabseids divides 

 off a piece of the dung and forms it into a ball, the size of the latter 

 varying with the size of the insect forming it. The ball, however, is 

 usually of greater dimensions than the insect making it. There is a 

 common small scarabaeid, a species of Copris resembling C. refiexus, in 

 the Dun below the Mussoorie hills which may be found congregated hi 

 scores in cow droppings. It is not an uncommon sight to see several 

 beetles, 3 or 4 together, dragging along one ball. Whether the) 

 subsequently feed upon it together or whether one or two only 

 ultimately devour it, I do not at present know. The ball is pushed 

 and dragged to a suitable locality, the hind legs, front legs and 

 head all being made use of to get it along and the insects dis- 

 play an amount of strength and patience in this work which are 

 almost incredible. On reaching the spot decided upon, the ball is 

 buried in a chamber which is dug out by means of the flat 

 spined tibia? of the front legs. The insect or insects then get 

 in alongside the ball and devour it. It is probable that they spend 

 several months in the beetle stage of their existence and that con- 

 sequently it is only towards the latter end of this period that the female 

 commences to prepare the ball which is to subsequently provide the 

 food for the offspring. She first digs out a chamber in the ground 

 and then fills it with dung. Observations would seem to show that 

 23 



