CHAPTER XL VI 



SHEATH-WINGED INSECTS 



' T SHOW you here the scarab, clothed all in black. 

 X Passionate lover of the sun, it rarely strays be- 

 yond the regions bordering on the Mediterranean. 

 It belongs to the band of scavengers, a group of 

 handsome insects which, feeding on ordure, are 

 charged with the sanitation cf the greensward de- 

 filed by grazing herds. 



"Its favorite dish is the dung of horses and mules. 

 With the toothed edges of its head it rummages in 

 the dung; with its wide, serrate fore legs it cuts up 

 this material, kneads it, and molds it into a ball 

 about as large as an apricot. This done, the next 

 thing is to seek out some quiet retreat far from 

 the hubbub of its fellows who have been drawn to 

 the spot for as much as a kilometer round about by 

 the odor; and of course the booty must be trundled 

 away to this secure retreat, there to be eaten at ease, 

 without fear of predatory assaults from the envious. 



"This task is performed in couples. One hooks 

 on to the globule in front and pulls with head up; 

 the other pushes from behind with head down. 

 Heave ho! It starts, it rolls, under the combined 

 efforts of the two partners. On the down grade the 

 load again and again runs away with the team, which 



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