250 
COLEOPTERA. 
1904, were fed on by Onthophogus gravis, Wlk., and the bodies very quick¬ 
ly destroyed. Onthophagus longicornis , Deyr., has been reared from larvae 
found in balls buried to a depth of three to five inches below the surface 
immediately under cowdung. Each ball is oval, the long axis about twice 
the short, about f inch long. This ball is hollow, and the single white 
egg is fixed inside. The larva feeds on the ball, leaving the coarser outer 
shell and then pupates within. The larval life lasts for 21 days and the 
total life from egg to imago is, in May and June, about 5 weeks. At 
other seasons these beetles are found in the soil. Many of our commonest 
plains species are undescribed and no observations appear to have been 
made on their habits. Over 60 species are recorded and many remain 
to be described. Oniticellus cinctus , Fabr.,a black species with yellow 
fasciae, and 0. pallipes, F., a dull brown species, are abundant in the 
plains ; the latter has been reared from eggs found in dung-balls buried 
three inches underground. The eggs are attached each to one end of the 
cavity in an oval ball ; the larva has the first few segments of the abdo¬ 
men much drawn out and enlarged, apparently for the reception of the 
alimentary canal which is more than double the length of the body and 
bent back upon itself more than once, being also very capacious and 
filled with food. In habits and appearance it differs little from that of 
Onthophagus longicornis described above. The larval and pupal life 
together occupy about 19 days. 
Drepanocerus is represented by the tiny D . setosus, Wied., common 
in cowdung. 
Aphodiince .—These beetles feed in dung, the larvae being found in 
the dung-mass. They are small, brown or black species, cylindrical in 
form and readily confused with the Carabids of the Scaritine division. 
Aphodius is the principal genus, with over twenty Indian species record¬ 
ed ; they are extremely abundant in the rains coming to light in great 
numbers. Aphodius has been reared from larvae found in a dung ball 
below ground. Three larvae inhabit one mass, the eggs they hatch from 
being laid in different parts of the ball. The larvae are of the typical 
form, white, wrinkled and bent, with well developed legs. They pupate in 
round black cocoons, apparently made of excrement, emergence taking 
place partly by biting through the cocoon, partly by bursting it. Larval 
and pupal life together occupy about sixteen days in July-August. 
