52 



THE MUSEUM. 



ed, elephant-like head, and sturdy, 

 polished legs and back, than the smal- 

 ler female, whose mandibles are not 

 branched and whose form is not so 

 robust and formidable looking. 



Unlike most of his congeners, the 

 flight of Lucanus is almost without 

 sound. I did not notice my visitor 

 until I felt him on my collar. As soon 

 this beetle thinks that it is in danger 

 of an attack from any source, it will 

 hold its head erect and widely open its 

 mandibles. Along the inner margins 

 of the latter the horney skin is exceed- 

 ingly sensitive. As soon as it feels 

 anything between them, it closes them 

 with considerable force and power, as 

 I can testify from sad experience. 



While holding this beetle in my 

 hand, I was greatly struck with the 

 extraordinary strength of his legs. 

 When I closed my fingers upon him, 

 taking care that none of them came 

 between his sharp and ever ready 

 "nippers," he seemed to plow his way 

 through the hollow of my fist without 

 the slightest difficulty. Procuring a 

 little tin wagon which weighed exactly 

 two ounces (960 grains apothecary's 

 weight), I fastened him to it with a 

 quick-drying glue and two pieces of 

 thread. He weighed only 3 1 grains, 

 yet he walked away, drawing the little 

 wagon, as though he were free and un- 

 trammeled. I then placed half an 

 ounce of bird shot in the wagon; he 

 seemed to recognize this additional 

 weight, yet pulled it along without 

 difficulty. I added another half ounce. 

 This seemed to be the limit of his 

 load, for he could barely move the 

 wagon, though move it he did for one 

 inch. Just think of it! Here is a 

 creature weighing only 31 grains which 

 pulled 1,410 grains one inch, measured 

 distance. Do you not think that his 

 feat ranks wfth, if it does not surpass, 

 that of the famous Samson.' I do. 



I confined all of his legs save one, 

 which I attached t'o a very delicate 

 dynamometer. This leg was fully ex- 

 tended and the animal was then irri- 

 tated. It pulled down, as shown by 



the dynamometer, 249 grains. A man 

 weighing 240 pounds would have to 

 lift very near 2,000 pounds — one ton 

 — with one hand or one leg in order to 

 equal the performance of this beetle. 



The rhinoceros beetle (Dynastes 

 tityrus), the second insect Samson to 

 which I invite attention, differs from 

 the first in many respects. Lucanus 

 is jet black, with wing cases and legs 

 highly polished; it is slender, and some- 

 times very quick in its movements. 

 Dynastes, on the contrary, is yellow- 

 ish gray in color, with wing cases 

 splotched with black; its body is heavy 

 and solid looking, and its movements 

 are always slow and sedate. Unlike 

 those of the stag beetle, the horns on 

 the head and prothorax of the rhinoc- 

 eros beetle are true horns and not 

 mandibles. The top horn springs from 

 the back of the creature's neck, as it 

 were, while the lower horn grows from 

 the back of its head. These horns 

 are fixed and immovable and can only 

 be made to approximate by movements 

 of the beetle's head. Near the base 

 of the upper horn are two short, thorn- 

 like spines, one on each side. The fe- 

 male Dynastes is without horns. 



The set (or sets) of muscles govern- 

 ing the action of the mandibles of L. 

 elephas is very highly developed and 

 is exceedingly strong. Especially is 

 this true of the tendinous attachments 

 of the muscles themselves, which seem 

 part and parcel of the mandibles, so 

 closely and intimately are they welded 

 to them. 



The anatomical appearance of these 

 structures indicates great strength. 

 This appearance is reality, for relative- 

 ly the elephant beetle has more power 

 in its "jaws" than the most ferocious 

 bulldog that ever gripped a bone. 

 Furthermore, this insect has all the 

 "staying" qualities of its canine proto- 

 type; for, once having seized an object 

 between its powerful pincers, its head 

 may almost be torn from its body be- 

 fore it will relax its grasp. 



I held this beetle between thumb 

 and forefinger of my right hand, and 



