The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-07-01

ness OF their lives, and q very engrOss-
ing occupation they apparently find it.
They boast hig-sounding name. We
might call it national name. for it en-
braces all the several tribes. Necro-
phage, or, if you are inclined to treat
them with a familiarity that savors of
disrespect, you may call them--as most
people do - Grave-digging Beetles.
They have their own family name. dis
tinct from those of the general tribe,
and these, too, have an aristocratic flavor
of their own, such as Hister catlaver-
i,aus, Necrophorus rcstigator, Silpha
opaca, and several others equally i'm
pressive.
Each family has uniform of its own.
Some are arrayed in shining brown
coats, others in rusty-black, others have
bright-orange bars crossing their broad
backs, while one pigmy family boasts of
q coat smooth, and shiny, and black as
the finest jet. And to this queer little
nation of sections we, the proud race of
humanity, owe much, though few of us
recognize the debt.
We have often heard the query:
"How is it that, in walking in the
woods, we never come upon the dead
bodies of birds or small animals?" We
know that many of them must die from
natural causes in the depths of their
native forests, vet their bodies are never
seen. Why? Because the Creator,
ever thoughtful for His creatures, il
small as in great things, has ordered
the little race of sexton beetles to seek
out and bury these dead bodies, that
else would pollute the air and fill 1t
with poisonous miasma; and faithfully
do the little workers perform their task,
not only preserving the air in all its
purity, but actually adding to the fer
tility of the soil by covering up in its
bosom the elements of decay. which 20
SO far in nourishing vegetation.
And thus. in two direct WAYS, each
of them of the utmost importance, do
the insect sections serve mankind. But
God, ever-mindful of His least crea-
lures, has ordained that in working for
others they shall also serve themselves.
The first they do, all unconscious of
their service; the second they do with
full intent and knowledge.
1t is the business Of their lives to
bury dead animals. Why? They would
tell you, if they could speak: because
they furnish the proper substance on
which TO deposit the eggs from which
spring our race. The decaying flesh
first aids, by its heat, to hatch the eggs,
and afterward feeds the larv@." And
most wonderfully does the food thus
provided for the family of little ones
seem to agree with them, for once they
emerge from the yellow tube in which
they envelope themselves. the small,
flattish, black creatures dart hither ard
thither with most wonderful speed,
without any apparent object but that of
getting rid of some of their superabund-
ant activity.
We had often desired to see these
queer little sections at work, but never
succeeded until very recently. Not
many days ago, however, mole,
which had been making sad havoc
among the roots of some young orange
trees, was finally shot, and as we had
observed several beetles close by, we
resolved to put a surmise as to their be-
ing ''sextons' to the test. So we cast
the dead mole, with studied careless
ness, upon the ground, beneath the
broad leaves of q banana. We were
not very hopeful of the result, for the
sections love best to pursue their trade
in the dead of night, and unless greatly
in want of a depository for their eggs,
they seldom work by day. But evil
IDENTIFY our particular friends Uere
pressed, for in a few moments two
orange-barred beetles came flying, with
widespread wings, and alighted on a
lower leaf Of the banana. An instant
or two Of investigation, and then, APP
parently satisfied that the corpse was
bona fle, down they swooped upon it,
and tucking their broad wings careful
ly out of sight, promenaded awhile up
and down, over and around tho body,
as though ON a tour of inspection. At
length they set about their work in real
earnest. Now, consider q moment
that mole was at least fifty times a.
large as the sections who were about to
dig its grave, so you will perceive that
to dig a hole. and then drag the mole
to it, was as impossible IS for you or
me to drag an elephant. In fact, these
queer little sections are 50 much small
er than any of the animals whose graves
they prepare that it is out of the ques-
tlOu 1OI tuClu " 1UOV0 tu0 COIpSO III LIl0
very least. And they know this perfectly
well. So, being unable to bring the
corpse to the grave, they bring the
grave to the corpse.
Our two sections, having sufficiently
surveyed their prize, suddenly disap-
peared beneath it. Very soon, little
heap of sand began to appear to one
side, and then, bending cautiously, we
could see the tiny grave-diggers' mode
Of procedure. They were working side
by side, their heads bent, their slender
black legs vigorously scraping, pushing
and kicking; their shoulders. or collars,
which were much broader than their
heads, serving the while rs . brace or
support Gradually the mole sank into
the grave that was being dug beneath
Il: but our sections must have been
new TO their work they were not ex-
perts--and so they suddenly discovered
that one end of the o'rpse was sinking
much lower than the other, instead OF
being, As was proper, on . level. This
seemed to puzzle them sadly. They
stopped digging, and, mounting the
body. laid their heads together, as If
In consultation over the dire catastro-
phe; but directly they set to work