20 rMEODUCTlOX. 



of such dissections as I have made, seems to point to thehkeUhood 

 of these insects being viviparous, which, if confirmed, will be yet 

 another most abnormal characteristic of this peculiar family. The 

 larvae are much more active than those of other Lamellicornia, but 

 seem to be incapable of feeding themselves and quickly die if 

 separated from their parents. The wood is pulverised for them by 

 the jaws of the latter and, Dr. Ohaus believes, mixed with a 

 digestive secretion before it is supplied to them. Both larvte and 

 adults possess well-developed vocal organs, as already described, 

 and Dr. Ohaus records * that upon one occasion, having broken up 

 a stump and so dislodged a family of Passalid-E, he put them all 

 upon the ground and continued his search for other insects. 

 When about to leave the spot his attention was attracted by a 

 fqueaking noise and, being guided by the sound to a log a short 

 distance away, he found beneath it the two parent beetles and 

 several of their young ones, all stridulating vigorously, while, as 

 if directed by their cries, the remaining larvae, also squeaking, 

 were hastening towards them as fast as intervening obstacles 

 would allow. 



The life-history of most of the forms which feed in partly de- 

 composed wood, like the Lucanid.e and many liuTELix.E, or in 

 vegetable debris or among the roots of plants, like most Cetoxiin'^, 

 Dyxastinm;, and Meloloxtiiix.!:, is much simpler and, although 

 the larval development may occupy two or three years, the life of 

 the adult is frequently very short. Thus many Melolonthin"^ 

 appear at a fixed period of the year, are found in enormous 

 numbers for a few days, and then disappear completely. The 

 females merely deposit their eggs in loose soil a little below the 

 surface and the larva) feed at large until fully grown. A cocoon 

 is then formed on the spot, the outermost layer generally con- 

 sisting of fragments of earth, wood, root-fibres, or whatever 

 material forms the food of the species, while the inner substance 

 and agglutinative material is furnished, not by glands opening 

 into the mouth, but by the intestine. The interior is oval in shape, 

 and its walls generally quite smooth and polished. 



Lamellicorn larvae appear to form the only food of the young of 

 the very large Solitary AVasps of the genus iScoHa. The female 

 wasp seeks her victim underground and paralyses it by means of 

 her sting, an operation which is facilitated by the concentration 

 of the ventral nerve ganglia in the thorax as already described. A 

 single egg is then laid upon the immobile body and the wasp larva, 

 upon its emergence a few days later, finds a ready and sufficidnt 

 supply of food, fresh and living but incapable of resistance. The 

 prey is speedily reduced to a hollow skin, the vital organs being 

 avoided until the last, and the parasite then forms its cocoon 

 upon the scene of the tragedy.t 



A peculiar manner of life found in several different groups is 

 that of the " myrmecophilous " and " termitophilous " species, that 

 is, those which have attached themselves to Ants and Termites 



* Stett. Ent. Zeit. 1900. p. 170. 



t J. Fabre, Souvenirs Emoniulogiques, vol. iii. 



