Family 28. Digger and Chafer Beetles. SCARABAEIDAE. The group contains an immense number of handsome beetles, among which are some of the giants of the beetle world, though there are also many tiny ones; most of them in the earlier stages of their lives are thick, fleshy, white grubs that live in the ground or decaying woody matter, and sometimes do a great deal of damage to the roots of grass and cultivated crops. Though these beetles vary much in form and size, they have the antennae always produced at the tip into a laminate or pectinate club, which when expanded forms a comb or brush-like process. Kirby divides this family into eleven sub-families; Westwood into ten; while Sharp reduces them to five, which is quite sufficient for our purpose. The first comprise the COPRIDES, or true Dung-burying Beetles; they feed upon animal droppings, boring vertical shafts beneath fresh dung, and carrying portions several inches under ground; on this they not only feed, but also deposit their eggs in rounded balls of the same material. In the more tropical parts they are also attracted to dead animals, which they feed on in the same manner. They have a shovel-like rim round the front of the head, often ornamented above with spines or horns both on the head and thorax, particularly in the male sex; and their legs are admirably adapted for digging. The Sacred Beetle, worshipped and carved on the monuments by the ancient Egyptians, _Ateuchus sacer_, is typical of the group. _Cephalodesmius armiger_ is a black beetle, about ⅓ of an inch in length; it has a small head produced in front along the outer margin into four spines or horns standing out straight in front, the two middle ones longest; the thorax is finely punctured; and the wing covers are slightly striated. _Temnoplectron rotundum_, about the same length, is a shining black beetle; the head is flattened and turned down; the whole of the dorsal surface is smooth, and the wing covers are oval toward the apex. The Genus _Onthophagus_ contains most of our typical Dung Beetles; over 60 species have been described, chiefly by Macleay, 1864–1887–1888, and Harold 1869. _Onthophagus pentacanthus_ is ¾ inch in length; the male has a large slender horn rising up from the centre of the head; a curved shorter one on either side; and a short two-pronged process in the centre of the thorax, which is finely granulated above, and clothed with reddish hairs on the under side.