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THE SCARABsElDsE ' 
The finest specimen of these insects is Oryctes nasicornis ; it is of a 
brilliant brown colour, and has a horn upon its forehead like a 
rhinoceros, whence it has derived its title of “ nose-horn.” The 
larva is larger than that of the cockchafer, but has smaller legs, 
and it lives in the trunks of old and rotten oaks, but it is more 
readily discovered in those places where tan has been allowed to 
collect and to remain for some time. 
The Geotrnpidce and the Coprinee form other tribes of the 
Scarabceidce. They are essentially the Coleoptera of dung-hills, 
manure, and of stercoraceous matters in general. The Geotrnpidce 
have weak mandibles and jaws, the first being of a leathery 
consistence, and the antennae of ten or eleven joints. The Coprince 
Oryctes nasicornis. 
have antennae which are formed of nine joints, and the mandibles 
and jaws, which are small and membranous, are suited for the 
liquid diet in which these insects indulge. The principal genus of 
the first tribe is Geotrnpes , and its members are commonly called 
dung beetles, as are also the Coprince. 
A large beetle, which is of a shining black colour, and whose 
tints pass from green to blue or to violet, and whose elytra are 
strongly striated, flies and makes a great buzzing in the fine 
evenings towards the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, 
all about the roads and near walls, or wherever filth has been dropped. 
The female of this beetle takes particular care about laying its 
eggs. She makes a deepish hole in the earth and a comfortable 
chamber at the bottom of it ; in this retreat she lays an egg and 
then collects and packs up a quantity of filthy dung, which she 
