COLEOPTERA. 



SCARAB/EUS (HELIOCANTHARUS) SANCTUS ? 



Plate 1 . fig. 4. 



Genus. Scarabxus, Linn. Mac Leay. Ateuchus, Latreille, Dejcan. 



(Sub-Gen. Heliocantiiarus, Mac Leay.) 



Ch. Sp. Sc. cupreo-nitens, clypeo 6-dentato, thorace serrato, elytris striatis. Long. Corp. 



1 unc. 



Sc. black slightly shining with brass or copper, clypeus with six teeth, thorax witli 

 the margins serrated, elytra striated. Length 1 inch. 

 Syn. Copris sanctus ? Fabr. Suppl. Ent. Syst. p. 34. 



Scarabaeus sacer, Donov. 1 st edit. 

 Scarabaeus sanctus, Mac Leay, Horce Ent. p. 500, var. o? 



The insect here figured was regarded by Donovan as identical with the Scarabaeus 

 sacer of Linnaeus, a species inhabiting the south of Europe. " It is," he observes, " a 

 native of China, and is also found in other parts of the East Indies, in Egypt, Barbary, 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and other countries of Africa, and throughout the south of 

 Europe. ' The insects inhabiting these various countries are now ascertained to be 

 specifically distinct ; so that the reference of the species here figured to the Scarabaeus 

 sacer cannot be adopted, and it is not improbable that it is identical with the sanctus of 

 Fabricius. 



This tribe of insects is especially interesting from its containing the sacred beetle of 

 the Egyptians, by whom it was regarded as a visible deity; but a more refined system of 

 religious worship prevailed in their temples among the priests and sages. They deemed 

 it only the symbol of their god, and, ascribing both sexes to the beetle, it became a striking 

 emblem of a self-created and supreme first cause.* 



This insect was more especially the symbol of their god Neith, whose attribute was 

 power supreme in governing the works of creation, and whose glory was increased, rather 

 than diminished, by the presence of a superior being, Phtha, the creator. The theological 

 definition of the two powers, being independent, yet centering in one spirit, is implied by 

 the figurative union of two sexes in the beetle. In the latter sense it signified therefore 

 but one omnipotent power. The Scarabaeus, typifying Neith, was carved or painted on 



* "The father, mother, male and female art thou." Synesius. Hymn. Phtha. — "The Egyptian spirit 

 Phtha gave chaos form, and then created all things." Jamblichus de Mysteriis, sect. 8. 



