More Beetles 



bles, overlapping like a meat-hook, and her 

 long, naked abdomen, which she lifts and 

 brandishes in the air, make her a being 

 apart, of alarming aspect. I should like to 

 learn something of her larva. As I cannot 

 do this with the Beetle that visits my Moles, 

 I apply myself to a kindred species, as.nearly 

 as possible her equivalent in respect of size. 



In winter, when I raise the stones beside 

 the foot-paths, I often come across the larva 

 of the Stinking Staphylinus {S. olens, 

 MULL.), or Devil's Coach-horse. The ugly 

 animal, which is not very different in shape 

 from the adult, measures about an inch in 

 length. The head and thorax are a fine, 

 glossy black; the abdomen is brown and 

 bristles with sparse hairs. The cranium is 

 flat; the mandibles are black an,d very sharp, 

 opening in a ferocious crescent whose width 

 is more than twice the diameter of the head. 

 The mere sight of these curved daggers en- 

 ables us to guess the highwayman's habits. 



The creature's most singular implement is 

 the end of the intestine, which is covered 

 with a horny substance prolonged into a 

 stiff tube standing at right angles to the axis 

 of the body. This member is an instrument 

 of locomotion, an anal crutch. In walking, 

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