SHEATH-WINGED INSECTS 



285 



The Leaf-horned Beetles are distinguished by the fact that the terminal joints of 

 the antennae lie one upon another like the leaves of a book. In many cases they can be 

 expanded at will into a broad fan-like club. The well-known Si'AiM'.EKTLE is a representa- 

 tive of this group. It is a somewhat local species, being plentiful in some parts of the 

 country, and entirely unknown in others. The grub lives for several years in the trunks of 

 elm-trees, feeding upon the solid wood. When fully grown, it buries itself in the earth, and 

 constructs a large cocoon, in which it passes the chrysalis stage of its existence. The perfect 

 beetle emerges in November, but remains within the cocoon until the following June, In the 

 female the jaws are very much smaller than in the male, but are nevertheless more formidable 

 as weapons. The insect may often be seen flying on warm summer evenings. 



A still larger insect belonging to the same group is the HERCULES BEETLE, found in the 

 West Indies and tropical America, a male of average size being nearly 5 inches in length. 

 In this beetle the thorax is prolonged into a horn, which is curved downwards, while the 

 head is produced into a similar horn curved upwards, so that the two look like a pair of 

 enormous jaws. It has been stated that these horns, both of which are furnished with tooth- 

 like projections, are employed in sawing off the smaller branches of trees, the beetle grasping 



photos h M'. P Dando, F.Z.S. 



iRigtti!', Pjri 



TWO BURYING-BEETLES 



T^ese insects are about an inch in length ; many are blacli, but others haT-'e orange-red bands on the iving-cases 



a bough firmly, and flying round and round in a circle, till the wood is completely cut 

 through. This assertion, however, is totally unworthy of credit. An example of the beetle — 

 evidently imported — was recently found crawling on a hedge near Biggleswade. 



One of the largest of all known beedes is Drurv's Gollvth Beetle, a native of the Gaboon, 

 whose body is almost as big as the closed fist of a man. It appears to feed, while a grub, 

 on the wood of decaying trees, and undergoes its transformation to the chrysalis state in an 

 earthen cocoon, the peculiarit)' of which is that a thick belt, or ridge, runs round the middle. 

 How this belt is formed is a mystery, as it lies upon the outside, while the grub necessarily 

 constructs the cocoon from the inside. Several living examples of this beetle were exhibited in 

 the summer of 1898 in the Insect-house of the Zoological Gardens where they remained for five 

 or si.x weeks, feeding on the flesh of melons. A photograph of this beetle will be found in the 

 Coloured Plate. 



The common COCKCHAFER belongs to another division of the same group. This insect is 

 extremely injurious, as the grub lives for three years or more underground, feeding on the 

 roots of various cultivated plants. The perfect beetle appears in May and June, and is only 

 too plentiful almost everywhere. A month or so later its place is taken by the SUMMER 

 Chafer, or June Bug, which may often be seen flying in hundreds round the tops of 

 19 



