THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
249 
The Brilliant Beetle ( Meligethes brassiccs) revels in the brightest and 
hottest sunshine, and distracts one’s attention from his personal discomfort. 
The Bacon Beetle (. Dermestes lardarius) is three-quarters of an inch in 
length, burnished black, oval, elongated in shape, will feign death, and can be 
depended upon to eat anything that comes in his way. This beetle is destruc¬ 
tive to the museum, the warehouse, the store or the pantry; drugs are grate¬ 
ful to them, tobacco is not distasteful, woolen or silk, feather or fur, is to 
them palatable and nutritious. It takes its name from its fondness for the 
Southern dish of bacon. 
The Wool Beetle (. Hagria hirto) is black with yellow wings. It lives 
upon vegetables and blood of insects. 
The Sand Beetle ( Cicindella campestris ) lives on sandy banks, while their 
larvae pass their lives half a foot under ground, though they come to the sur¬ 
face for food. Their white coloring affords protection, 
by rendering them difficult to be distinguished from 
the sand. 
The Leather Beetle ( Carabus coriaceus) is 
black, half an inch in length, abundant in Europe, 
where it feeds 
upon worms, cat¬ 
erpillars, and 
other insects. 
The Swim¬ 
ming Beetle 
(.Dytiscus margi- 
nalis ) lives in, not 
merely upon, the 
water. It is guided 
by sight. Some 
species are mu- 
3. swimming beetle (Dyticus marginalis). 22. mourning beetle ( Blaps morti- s { C al Thev are 
saga). 26. spanish-fly (Lytta vesicatoria). 21. parti-colored ant beetle * r j • 
(Clems formicarius). 33. Ogcodes gibbosus. rarely found in 
salt water, but do 
not object to hot springs; like the camel, they are able to carry supplies, 
though they select air and not food. He has the power of making flaccid his 
shelly covering, so as to escape from the enemy wishing to feed upon him. 
The Hunting Beetle ( Staphylinus erythropterus ) is brown and gold in 
coloring, sometimes black and gray, again brown, black and yellow. 
The Pestle Beetle (C/avigcr foreolatus) is used by the ants as a milch cow; 
its reproduction is by depositing from twenty to one hundred eggs in a cocoon 
sometimes attached to a plant, and sometimes to the parent. The larvae prey 
upon one another; they seize flies and suck their blood. 
The Death Simulator ( Hister unicolor ) is round, hard and seed-like. It 
lives upon decaying vegetable and animal matter. In color it is generally black. 
By drawing in its legs and assuming the form of a ball it successfully simu¬ 
lates death. This sometimes protects it against attack, and sometimes renders 
its prey unwary. 
The Burying-Bug (. Necrophorus vespillio) is a European species, which lays 
its eggs in animals which it has buried. It is most frequently black (or black 
