ARTICULATA. 157 
a suitable place, when they commence working the earth from beneath it, 
and gradually burying it. The American Canthon lave (or C. volvens) 
generally works in pairs, one pushing the ball backwards with its hind feet, 
its posterior extremity raised up, the other walking up the ball on the 
opposite side, thus causing it to roll. The ball is about three fourths of an 
inch in diameter, and quite globular. Copris carolina makes a small ball, 
which it buries at once. Deltochilum gibbosum of the southern states makes 
a small ball, in the exterior of which there is a great deal of cow’s hair. 
The genus Ateuchus (pl. 81, fig. 182) entered largely into the mythology 
of the ancient Egyptians, and models and figures of it are common among 
Egyptian antiquities. In Lethrus cephalotes (fig. 144), a European insect, 
the pronotum and elytra nearly correspond in size and convexity, the feet 
are long, and inserted near each other, and the antenne terminate in a 
reversed cone. 
The Aphodiide (jigs. 1383-5) are small oblong insects found in dung, some 
of which are black, and some of brighter colors. They may be seen flying 
slowly along the roads in the warm days of autumn. The elytra cover the 
entire abdomen. 
The Dynastide include some of the largest Coleoptera, as Dynastes 
hercules (fig. 148), D. acteon (fig. 147), D. alsoéus (fig. 146), Oryctes nasi- 
cornis (fig. 145). During the day they live in the earth, or in the decom- 
posed matter of old trees, and fly about at night. Scarabeus tityus, of the 
United States, is found in old apple trees. In general, the male alone has 
the horn-like projections. 
Melolonthide. Melolontha vulgaris (pl. 81, fig. 181), WL. fullo (fig. 
130), Rhizotrogus (fig. 129), Serica (fig. 126), are examples of this family, 
which is important in its relations with agriculture. 
The Cetoniide, of which Cetonia (pl. 81, fig. 125) and Trichius (jig. 
127) are examples, contain some of the handsomest of known insects. 
They feed upon the fluids of plants, as honey and sap, and also upon parts 
of the blossoms. 
The Serricornia constitute the fourth sub-tribe of the Pentamera, and 
include many handsome forms of vegetable feeders, in which the antennie 
are generally short, and serrate, pectinate, or filiform, the apex rarely 
thickened. The form is lengthened, and the elytra generally cover the 
abdomen. ‘They include the two stirpes, acrosternia and Aprosternia. 
The Jfacrosterna (Sternoxi of Latreille, pl. 81, jigs. 22, 28) contain 
the genera Luprestis, and many more having the same general characters. 
They aye included in the three families, Buprestidae, Hucnemide, and 
Hlateride. 
The Luprestide include a great number of brilliant, large, and medium 
species resembling gold or precious stones. The body is hard, cylindrical, 
flattened, elliptic or oval, the feet short and weak, the elytra narrowed 
towards the end, the wings adapied for a rapid flight, the head vertical and 
deeply inserted in the prothorax, which is attached by a wide surface to the 
mesothorax, so that there is but little motion between these parts. They 
are chiefly inhabitants of warm climates, and the size of the species varies 
361 
