34 
plint's natural history. 
[Book XTi 
bite. These beetles are suspended from the neck of infants by 
way of remedy against certain maladies : ^^'igidius calls them 
*4ucani." There is another kind^^ of beetle, again, which, 
as it goes backwards with its feet, rolls the dung into large 
pellets, and then deposits in them the maggots which form its 
young, as in a sort of nest, to protect them against the rigours 
of winter. Some, again, fly with a loud buzzing or a drony 
noise, while others burrow numerous holes in the hearths 
and out in the fields, and their shrill chirrup is to be heard at 
night. 
The glow-worm, by the aid of the colour of its sides and 
haunches, sends forth at night a light which resembles that of 
fire ; being resplendent, at one moment, as it expands its 
wings, and then thrown into the shade the instant it has, 
shut them. These insects are never to be seen before the grass 
of the pastures has come to maturity, nor yet after the hay has 
been cut. On the other hand, it is the nature of the black 
beetle to seek dark corners, and to avoid the light : it is ' i 
mostly found in baths, being produced from the humid vapours 
which arise therefrom. There are some beetles also, belonging 
to the same species, of a golden colour and very large size, which 
burrow in dry ground, and construct small combs of a porous- 
nature, and very like sponge ; these they fill with a poisonous 
kind of honey. In Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small 
locality, the only one in which this animal cannot exist; 
from which circumstance it has received the name of Can- 
tharolethus." 
The wings of all insects are formed without any division in 
12 The dung-beetle, the Scarabaeus pilularius of Linnaeus. 
13 Various kinds of crickets. 
1* Cuvier says that it is on the two sides of the abdomen that the male 
carries its Ught, while the whole posterior part of the female is shining. 
1^ In the glow-worm of France, the Lampyris noctilaca of Linnaeus, the .j| 
female is without wings, while the male gives but little light. In that i| 
of Italy, the Lampyris Italica, both sexes are winged. 
1^ " Blattae." See B. xxix. c. 39, where three kinds are specified. 
This beetle appears to be unknown. Cuvier suggests that the Scara- 
bseus nasicornis of Linnaeus, which haunts dead bark, or the Scarabaeus 
auratus may be the insect referred to. 
18 Fatal to the beetle.'* ^ 
19 Cuvier remarks that this assertion, borrowed from Aristotle, is incor-. j 
rect. The wings of many of the Coleoptera are articulated in the middle, ' 
and so double, one part on the other, to enter the sheath. ! 
