It is a miniature reproduction of the pear-shaped ball of the Scarabaeus, a reproduction whose very smallness gives an added value to the polish of the surface and the beauty of its curves.

Its larger diameter varies from half to three-quarters of an inch.

It is the most elegant product of the dung-beetle's art.
But this perfection is of brief duration.

Very soon the little "pear" becomes covered with gnarled excrescences, black and twisted, which disfigure it like so many warts.

Part of the surface, which is otherwise intact, disappears under a shapeless mass.