79 
1963] Matthews — Behavior of Canthon 
entirely of white sand and was largely exposed, either on sand roads 
or open pastures. 
Ball-rolling Behavior 
The apparent function of the making and rolling of a ball of dung 
is to transport the dung away from the dropping and bury it to be 
eaten underground, where it is protected from desiccation. The 
dung ball serves as food either for the beetle rolling it or for the 
future larva. Reproductive activity is seen almost entirely during 
the spring months (March — May), after which adult feeding activi- 
ty predominates. The behavior sequence in relation to the ball is signifi- 
cantly different depending on whether the dung ball is to serve as 
adult or larval food. 
In the following account, the making and rolling of the food ball 
will be dealt with first. Quantitative or important statements are 
followed by a number in parentheses; this indicates the number of 
observations upon which the previous statement is based. This is to 
enable the reader to judge the relative reliability of a statement. 
Apparent discrepancies in these observation numbers are due to the 
fact that many fragmentary sequences were observed. Anthropo- 
morphisms must be excused by the reader in the interest of avoiding 
lengthy circumlocutions. 
The Food Ball 
With regard to the food ball, both sexes behave the same way, 
acting individually. The sequence involved in the making, rolling, 
and burial of the ball is as follows : i ) Approaching the dung source, 
2) cutting, 3) shaping, 4) rolling, and 5) burial of the ball. An 
additional section below is devoted to underground feeding. 
The approach . When there is a wind, the beetles will approach 
a source of dung from down-wind, flying very low in zig-zags. At 
a certain moment, perhaps when the odor currents are encountered 
at a certain frequency, the beetle suddenly “cuts” its power and 
drops like a stone to the ground, often landing on its back. The 
point where it lands may be from three to 80 cm from the dung, 
usually 10 — 15 cm (5). The beetle then approaches on foot, moving 
jerkily with antennae outstretched. One beetle was seen to approach 
entirely on foot and was first spotted 150 cm away. The time it took 
for individual beetles to locate a given source of (human) dung 
after deposition varied from less than one minute to five hours and 
30 min (23). Conversely, a given source of dung took from less than 
one minute to one hour and ten minutes to be first discovered by this 
species, the average being 23 min (6). Of course, these figures 
