COLEOPTERA. 
J 37 
touches and caresses it with its antennae, and while the beetle responds in a 
similar manner, the ant sucks at the tufts of hair near the end of the beetle’s 
elytra, and then licks the whole anterior surface of the back of its abdomen. 
The ants feed the beetles in very much the same way as they feed their larvae. 
When the beetle is hungry it expresses its desire to be fed by licking an ant near 
the mouth, and occasion¬ 
ally stroking; the sides of 
its head with gentle 
movements of its 
antennae. During; the 
process of feeding the 
beetle is passive ; the ant 
moves its head gently to 
and fro, while the head 
of the beetle rests almost 
motionless in its mouth. 
The attention bestowed 
by the ants on the beetles is as great as that which they give to their own larvae, 
and they frequently feed the hungry ones among them, before looking after the 
wants of their own brood. 
The orange-banded burying-beetles of the genus Necrophorus are probably 
the best-known members of the SilphidcE, though they are not to be considered the 
most representative, either in habits, size, or general appearance. The many genera 
of which the family is composed differ greatly in size and outward form, while the 
burying instinct is almost entirely confined to the genus Necrophorus. In nearly 
all cases, however, the antennae, consisting usually of eleven joints, are thickened 
towards the tip or furnished with a distinct club; the prothorax is usually broad 
and flat, with sharply defined lateral margins, while the elytra frequently do not 
reach to the tip of the abdomen; the coxae of the four anterior legs are large, 
prominent, and conical in shape; and the tarsi are usually five-jointed, though 
occasionally with a less number of joints. The Carrion - beetles are widely 
distributed, though chiefly characteristic of the colder and temperate zones. 
In the genus Necrophorus the antennae terminate in an almost globular, four- 
jointed mass; the body is broadest across the ends of the elytra, which are 
abruptly truncated, leaving the tip of the abdomen exposed. The species of this 
genus are black in colour, but in most of them the elytra are crossed by two 
broad orange bands. They feed upon dead animals of all kinds, and their habit of 
burying the smaller carcases, such as those of mice, moles, small birds, etc., has gained 
for them the name of “ sexton ” or “ burying ” beetles. Their mode of operation is to 
creep underneath and dig the earth away until they have made a hole big enough 
to receive the dead body; as the latter sinks, the loose soil closes over it and in 
time completely hides it from view. The females then lay their eggs in the 
carcase, which subsequently serves as food for the larvae. These insects must have 
a very acute sense of smell, for in a very short time after a mole has been killed 
some of them may be seen hovering over the body, although not pieviously 
observed anywhere in the vicinity. Out of about a dozen species of JSecrophorus 
Claviger testaceus, caressed by ants (greatly enlarged). 
