Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1895-07-26
IT WAS ONCE A GOD,
WHY THE TuMBLEBUG WAS WOR.
SHIPPED BY EGYPTIANS.

The Wonderful Little Insect That Every
Country Boy Knows-How 1t Hides Its
Eges-Rolling the Ball-Now Mrs. Turn.
blebug Helps When It Sticks.
There is found in every state of the I'm.
ion a little insect that used to BIZ a god.
His history is q wonderful account Of ups
and downs. You would never guess from
his personal appearance that he was once
worshipcd by human beings, for he is very
plain and modest looking. He goes about
his daily toll in the most cheerful and
matter of fact way, seemingly more inter
ested in rearing heirs than in studying an
%cestors. He recks not that his name was
once sacred scarab;eus of the Egyptians.
Today he is plain Mr.. Tumblebug, at your
service.
But the tulnblebug is of great interest
in himself, leaving out all mention of his
history. This is an account of the peculiar
manner in which the Matching Of the egg
is provided for. Aftor being laid it is i'm
mediatcly rolled up in Il ball of mud and
about the sizo of a big marble.
When the ball is thoroughly dried, Mr.. and
Mrs. Tumblebug start it rolling in search
of some convenient place in which to bury
it. This place may not be fond for some
yards, and the ingenuity displayed in "navi-
eating" it over that distance is far greater
thar that shown by some human beings in
their chosen business.
In the first place, the ball is round.
This, of course, is the best form for roll.
ing. But even then the slightest Unequal
ity Of the ground or even u blade of grass
would present a serious obstacle. OF course
if The tumblebug were as big as a mouse
he could carry the ball in his mouth; if he
were adapted for pushing, he could move
it IN that way, but unfortunately he is
neinher. In solving the problem in spite
of 80 many difficulties he illustrates the
old saying that there is more than one way
of killing a cat.
The method is this. Mrs. Tumblebug
climbs up on top Of the ball and gets good
and ready to move toward the front edge,
so as to start it going. Mr.. T. stands on
his head behind, with front feet on the
ground, while tho hind feet and the tip of
the abdomen are against the ball. When
all is ready, Mr.. T. gives the signal (sup-
posedly), hrs. T. gives a lurch forward,
and, 10! they're off. Mrs. T. usually has
very bad luck Immediately after the start,
for almost invariably she is carried to the
ground, and the ball rolls over her. But
she is very good natured about it. She
doesn't get cross, or refuse to play any
more. She just climbs out from under,
shakes the dust out of her skirts, mounts
the ball again and is ready for another
start.
If a down grade is encountered, the
work is so much the easier, although bugs
and ball will frequently land in a heap at
the bottom. But when an up grade or Il
large obstacle intcrvenes the trouble is
very great. In such a case tumblebugs
will do one of two things. They will either
desert the ball or go in search Of help. In
the former case, another family will fire.
quently happen along and take charge of
affairs, just as if the ball We're their own.
In the latter case the n%eighbors always
turn out, if there are any such.
If you handle tumblebugs while they
are at work, they remain very quiet until
you are through, and then resume rolling
the ball. Nothing seems to disturb them.
After the ball has fairly started, the
bugs frequently leave it, running around
without apparent reason. They are, how
ever, searching for a good place of deposit.
The hole in which it finally rests is several
inches and often a foot or more in depth,
and in order that the bugs may be able to
excavate it the "digging'' must be good.
When the site is once chosen, a queer
method of making the hole is resorted to.
The way of rolling tho ball is
place compared to it. You would natural
~ think that the bugs would first dig the
hole and then push the ball into it. No
such thing. They quite reverse his proc
ess. One of the bugs gets under the ball
and digs with his hind legs, throwing the
dirt out around the edges. AS he gets
lower the ball sinks with him, and when
the hole is deep enough he digs his way
around the ball, which has followed him
all the way, and then pushes up through
the loose dirt to the surface. What he does
for fresh air during this process is some
thing that no man can find out.
When the egg matches in it's subterra-
mean abode the larvae feed on the material
of their envelope. In course of time they
surround themselte s with the same ma
terial, cemcnted together with a gelati-
nous substance exuded from their bodies
and later emerge as perfect insects. The
ancient Romans esteemed the larvae ct the
tumblebug as a great delicacy. They were
eaten after being fried Il delicate brown.
Modern eri"ures have taken to snails.
The Egyptian variety of the tumble
bug, which is also found over Africa and
southern Europe, is just the same as that
found in the United States, except that it
is twice as large. In shape, color and
habits it is identical. Its shell is very
ha-d, and the legs, particularly the hind
ones, are very strong. This makes the in
Eect well adapted for digging. Tie sense
of smell is wonderfully developed, and for
this reason the tumblebug is exceedingly
valuable in its particular work for man
kind. 1t was created for a scavenger.
BY man this renowned insect has been
exempted from the humble lot of most of
its tribe. The ancient Egyptians consid-
cred it sacred and paid it divine honors.
They represented it on temples, obelisks
n statues and inclosed it in collins with
the emballmed bodies of the dead. 1t was
a favorite deity, representing the sun. AS
typical Of the luminary which is the source
OF light and heat it came likewise to be re-
gardcd as the emblem of fertility, and it Is
eaten by Egyptian women to this day un.
der the idea that it is eficacious.
It is not difficult to see how the tumble
bug should come to represent the sun.
The ball is rolled backward by the insect,
just as the larger ball (the earth) is by the
sun. In it's arduous and incessant labors
the tumblebug resembles the sun. Its six
legs have five joints each, or 80 in all,
Mis- is eoIa1 to the Dnpbor of dore +bo