648 
AETICULATA. 
in dung, in decaying vegetaWe matter, and in the earth, feeding upon roots. They usually pass 
several years in the larva state, and change to the pupa in the interior of a soi-t of co(h><)ii, 
formed of particles of the surrounding materials, aggkitinated together by a sticky secretion. 
THE STAG BEETLE. 
Many of the perfect insects of this family are found in the same situations as their larvee, espe- 
cially in the case of the dung-feeding 
species. Of those which live in rot- 
ten wood, many, like the Eose- 
Chafer, or EosE-BuG, or Cherry- 
Bug, Macrodactylus sub-sjnnosus of 
our own country, and its still more 
splendid foreign allies, frequent flow- 
ers in their perfect state; and the 
common Cock-Chafer, the larva of 
which feeds upon and often does 
great mischief to the roots of plants, 
lives entirely upon leaves after it has 
undero-one its last change. 
Besides the species of Cock-Chafer 
above mentioned, is the Melolontha 
fullo, the largest of the European 
kinds, being over an inch long ; the 
body black, and spotted with white. 
Many of the dung-beetles, among 
which the Sacred Beetle of the 
Egyptians, Scarahceus ^gyptiorum, 
holds a prominent place, are remark- 
able for inclosing their eggs in a 
small pellet of dung, which they then 
roll along with their hind-legs, until 
they drop it into a hole which they 
have dug for its reception. There 
is a similar species in this country, 
the S. jDilularius, familiarly called Tumhle-Bug. The Mimas, S. mimas, is a beautiful South 
American species, of a rich golden-green color. 
THE SACHED BEETLE. 
THE MIMAS. 
