ROVE-BEETLES AND CHAFERS. 



557 



an inch or more in length, and are black, •with orange-red bands on the 



elytra. They are remarkable for their habit of interring the bodies of small 



animals, such as mice or birds, which they may find lying 



about, by scooping out the earth underneath, dragging and Burying-Beetles. 



stamping them down, and covering them up. The females 



are buried with the carcase, on which they deposit their eggs, and then make 



their way back to the surface. We have figured Necrophorus vespillo (Linn.), 



one of the commonest species. 



There is a group of beetles allied to, and sometimes included in, the Necro- 

 phaga, called, from their aquatic habits, the PhUhydrida. The largest 

 species. Hydrous piceus (Linn.), is a shining black beetle, „ 



longer, narrower, and more convex than the species of Water-Beetle 

 Dyivicus, from which its short-clubbed antennfe and much 

 longer hind legs will at once distinguish it. It is sometimes called the 

 groat water-beeolo. 



The Lamellicornes or chafers form a very interesting and important group of 

 beetles, but are not very numerous in Europe. They are distinguished by 

 the structure of their antennae, which are short, and 

 furnished at the extremity with a series of flat plates, which Chafers, 



spread out like a fan. They feed on plants or dung, and 

 some species are very destructive. They are stout, round, or oblong beetles 

 of considerable size. Many of the species are black, but others exhibit 

 much variety of colour. There are many large species among them, and 

 they are frequently furnished with great horns, largest in the males, 

 and often assuming very strange shapes, on different parts of the head and 

 thorax. 



The dung-beetles or Scaralxt'idie (a name sometimes applied to all the 

 iameHieWHes) are generally black and shining, though sometimes inclin- 

 ing to greenish or purple, especially beneath. They have 

 strongly toothed and flattened legs for digging. Some Dung-Beetles. 

 species, like tlie Egyptian sacred beetle; form pellets 



of dung which they roll to a suitable place, 

 and in this deposit their eggs. This insect, 

 Scarahceus sftcer (Linn.), is common throughout the 

 Mediterranean region, and is black, with a broad 

 fiat head, with a vertical spine in the middle, and 

 strongly dentated on the front curve. There are a 

 number of species of more or less similar appear- 

 ance and habits, several of which are represented 

 on Egyptian monuments. 



Our common black dung-beetles belong to the 

 genus Oeotrnpes (Fabr)., and have a much smaller 

 head than the sacred beetles. They fly in a 

 straight line in the evening, as in the time of 

 Shakespeare, who speaks of the "shardhorn beetle 

 with his drowsy hum." They are frequently much 

 infested with mites. The smaller dung-beetles of 

 the genus Aphodius (Illiger) are more numerous in 

 species, and more various in colour. They re- 

 semble very small cock-chafers in appearance, and may often be seen flying 

 about dung in the sunshine. 

 The MelolonthidcB include the true cock-chafers. Our species, MehlontM, 



Fig. 30.— The EnTPTiAN 



Sacruid Beetle {Scaraha'us 



saxer, Linu.). 



