180 
XATUEAL HISTOEY OP 
by beasts of prey, or the juices would be speedily 
evaporated by the heat of the sun, and the maggots 
thus deprived of their appropriate nourishment. 
The Necrophori are distinguished by the form of 
the antennae, which are very little longer than the 
head, with the four last joints forming a perfoliate 
club, as represented in the following figure. The 
northern parts of America. They are almost in- 
variably of a brownish-black colour, frequently va- 
riegated with spots and bands of orange yellow. 
Seven different kinds occur in Britain, one of which 
is represented on the accompanying plate. * 
NECROPHORUS HUMATOR. 
PLATE IX. Fig. 1. 
Silpha Humator, Olivier. — Marsham's Entom . Brit. — Do- 
novan's British Insects , ii. pi. 537, fig. 1. 
This species is entirely of a brownish-black co- 
lour, except the three last joints of the antennas, which 
are orange yellow. The head and thorax are very 
faintly punctured, and the surface of the latter is 
mandibles are without teeth, and 
the elytra are of an oblong-quad- 
rate form, leaving three or four of 
the segments of the abdomen un-t 
covered. The species, amounting 
to near thirty, are confined, as far 
as is yet known, to Europe and the 
