Of the eighteen chapters that make up the present volume, some have appeared, either complete or in a more or less abbreviated form, in various interesting illustrated miscellanies published independently of the Collected Edition. Part of the Author’s Preface and the chapters entitled ‘The Sacred Beetle’ and ‘The Sacred Beetle in Captivity’ will be found in Insect Life, prepared for Messrs. Macmillan and Co. by the author of Mademoiselle Mori. Similarly, the next three chapters on the Sacred Beetle, the two treating of the Spanish Copris, the chapter on the Onthophagi and Oniticelli, and the first two chapters on the Geotrupes form part of The Life and Love of the Insect, translated by myself for Messrs. Adam and Charles Black and published in America by the Macmillan Co. Lastly, The Sisyphus: the Instinct of Paternity occurs in Mr. Fisher Unwin’s Social Life in the Insect World, translated by Mr. Bernard Miall and published in America by the Century Co. These chapters are all included in the Collected Edition by arrangement with the publishers named. It remains for me (I grieve to say, for the last time) to acknowledge my debt to the late Miss Frances Rodwell, my very capable assistant, who did so much to assist me in preparing this and most of the previous volumes. Her too early death, in the winter of this year, was an occasion of sorrow, and a great loss to many besides myself. Alexander Teixeira de Mattos. Chelsea, 26th April 1919. CONTENTS PAGE AUTHOR’S PREFACE v TRANSLATOR’S NOTE xvii CHAPTER I THE SACRED BEETLE 1 CHAPTER II THE SACRED BEETLE IN CAPTIVITY 29 CHAPTER III THE SACRED BEETLE: THE BALL 42 CHAPTER IV THE SACRED BEETLE: THE PEAR 56 CHAPTER V THE SACRED BEETLE: THE MODELLING 73 CHAPTER VI THE SACRED BEETLE: THE LARVA 83 CHAPTER VII THE SACRED BEETLE: THE NYMPH; THE RELEASE 96 CHAPTER VIII THE BROAD-NECKED SCARAB; THE GYMNOPLEURI 112 CHAPTER IX THE SPANISH COPRIS: THE LAYING OF THE EGGS 127 CHAPTER X THE SPANISH COPRIS: THE HABITS OF THE MOTHER 149 CHAPTER XI ONTHOPHAGI AND ONITICELLI 172 CHAPTER XII THE GEOTRUPES: THE PUBLIC HEALTH 189 CHAPTER XIII THE GEOTRUPES: NEST-BUILDING 203 CHAPTER XIV THE GEOTRUPES: THE LARVA 221 CHAPTER XV THE SISYPHUS: THE INSTINCT OF PATERNITY 235