364 SEXUAL SELECTION. [Part II. 



elongated rostrum, " fighting for a female, who stood close 

 by busy at her boring. They pushed at each other with 

 their rostra, and clawed and thumped apparently in the 

 greatest rage." The smaller male, however, " soon ran 

 away, acknowledging himself vanquished." In some few 

 cases the males are well adapted for fighting, by possess- 

 ing great toothed mandibles, much larger than those of the 

 females. This is the case with the common stag-beetle 

 (Lucanus cervus), the males of which emerge from the 

 pupal state about a week before the other sex, so tha* 

 several may often be seen pursuing the same female. At 

 this period they engage in fierce conflicts. When Mr. A. 

 II. Davis cl enclosed two males with one female in a box, 

 the larger male severely pinched the smaller one, until he 

 resigned his pretensions. A friend informs me that when 

 a boy he often put the males together to see them fight, 

 and he noticed that they were much bolder and fiercer 

 than the females, as is well known to be the case with the 

 higher animals. The males would seize hold of his finger, 

 if held in front, but not so the females. With many 

 of the Lucanidae, as well as with the above-mentioned 

 Leptorhynchus, the males are larger and more powerful 

 insects than the females. The two sexes of Lethrus 

 cephalotes (one of the Lamellicorns) inhabit the same bur- 

 row ; and the male has larger mandibles than the female. 

 If, during the breeding-season, a strange male attempts to 

 enter the burrow, he is attacked ; the female does not re- 

 main passive, but closes the mouth of the burrow, and en 

 courages her mate by continually pushing him on from 

 behind. The action does not cease until the ag-oressor ia 

 killed or runs away. 65 The two sexes of another lamelli- 



64 ' Entomological Magazine,' vol. i. 1833, p. 82. See also, on the con- 

 flicts of this species, Kirby and Spence, ibid. vol. iii. p. 314 ; and West- 

 wood, ibid. vol. i. p. 187. 



65 Quoted from Fischer, in ' Diet. Class. d'Hist. Nat.' torn. x. p. 324. 



