24 HOW TO TEACH BEETLES, BUGS, AND LOCUSTS. 
CARRION-BEETLES AND SEXTON-BEETLES. 
Nature provides for the removal of offensive de¬ 
caying animal matter, such as dead animals. One of 
these provisions for removing such offensive objects 
is the carrion-beetles (silpha) and sexton-beetles 
(necrophorus). 
Carrion-beetles are distinguished by their black, 
flat bodies and their club-shaped antennae. Their 
flat bodies enable them to creep into very narrow 
crevices and to crawl under almost any object which 
may be lying on the ground, such as a dead mouse. 
The sexton-beetles are rather larger than the 
carrion-beetles and have their elytra variously cross- 
striped with a bright orange-red or brick-red 
color. Sexton-beetles are so called because they 
bury the carrion by undermining it so that it falls 
into the hole. Then they lay their eggs on it, and 
when these hatch the larvae find an abundance of 
food on which to feed. Having reached their full 
size they burrow in the ground forming an oval 
cavity, in which they pass their pupa state; after 
which they emerge from the soil to hunt a choice 
bit of carrion on which to lay their eggs. 
The amount of labor performed by these insects 
in burying dead animals is tremendous, when com¬ 
pared with the size of the insect itself. The rela¬ 
tive strength of insects is very great, as may be 
seen in these beetles as well as in ants and some 
other insects. 
