SCAEAB^US. 



157 



If the reader -will refer to the plate, he will there see two of 

 these beetles at work upon a ball, for it is not an unusual cir- 

 cumstance that two insects should propel the same ball And, 

 upon the accompanying illustration may be seen the completed 

 cocoon. 



Several good examples of this cocoon are in the British 

 Museum, as well as those belonging to allied insects. 



COCOONS OF SCARAB.1i:US AND GOLIATB. 



Frequently the beetle is very much puzzled to discover a 

 place wherein it may dig a hole for the reception of the ball, 

 especially where the ground is uniformly hard. The material 

 which it desires is generally to be found plentifully upon roads, 

 but as roads are usually too hard to be penetrated by the beetle's 

 limbs, the unfortunate insects may be seen rolling their pellets 

 with a patient and hopeless industry only to be equalled by that 

 of Sisyphus. I may perhaps mention in this place that an 

 allied species living in America is popularly called the tumble- 

 bug — ^the latter inappropriate monosyllable being indiscriminately 

 used for every insect that even looks like a beetle. 



There is also in the British Museum one enormous cocoon 

 made of clay. It is almost the size of a six-pounder cannon- 

 ball, with walls of such thickness, that the hollow in its centre 

 is barely the size of a crab-apple. The weight of this cocoon is 

 enormous, when the size of its inmate is considered, and that so 

 comparatively small a beetle should construct and roll so large a 



