12 



LTJCANID^ AND PASSALID^. 



under projecting flakes and deposits them on the outer surface 

 of the sap-wood. A Uttle book, ' The Beetles of the Himalayas,' 

 by E. A. D'Abreu mentions the trees most commonly affected, 

 and the months of appearance of a few of the commoner 

 Indian Stag-beetles. Beyond these scanty details scarcely 

 anything has been recorded as to the habits of the Indian 

 species, but the life -histories of the British Lucanus cervus, 

 of which various congeners are found in India, and of Dorcus 

 parallelojnpedus , representing the predominant Oriental genus 

 of LucANiD^, are fairly well known. The eggs of the former 

 are deposited in much-decayed tree-stumps or sometimes at 

 the base of rotting oak posts. The species is common in the 

 London district and the south of England, as well as in the 

 outskirts of Paris. Its immature stages last three or four 

 years and sometimes perhaps more but probably the duration 

 of life of the related species inhabiting warmer climates is 

 shorter. Like other LameUicorn larvae, that of Lucanus 

 cervus feeds lying upon its side with the body curled in the 

 shajie of the letter C. When fully grown it prepares an oval 

 cell with a smooth lining, within the soft fibrous substance 

 surrounding it, and then turns upon its back to undergo its 

 metamorphosis. The change to the pupal stage and later to 

 the adult condition takes place in the autumn but the beetles 

 remain until the following spring within the pupal cell and the 

 eggs are laid in summer. Dorcus parallelopipedus is found in 

 decaying stumps or trunks of ash and sometimes of elm, 

 walnut, etc. 



It is probable that the great majority of the Indian 

 LucANiD^ have habits essentially similar to those of these 

 European forms, to which they are closely related. A few, 

 aberrant in their structure, like Aulacostethus, Platyfigulus and 

 Penichrolucamis, have no doubt peculiar modes of life in 

 correspondence with their structure, but of these a few sohtary 

 examples are all that have yet been discovered, and their habits 

 remain completely unknown. Some of the Indian Stag- 

 beetles are found in large numbers, but not a few are known 

 only from single specimens, although in some cases these 

 solitary specimens were discovered many years ago. It is 

 probable that, like their European allies, most of the Indian 

 species are more or less nocturnal in the adult stage, remaining 

 quiescent during the day and becommg active only after 

 sundown. Some of the more gaily coloured members of the 

 family however, like the splendid Australian Lamprima, fly 

 in hot sunsliine and are sometimes seen in hundreds at a time. 

 The common Lucanus cervus has occasionally appeared in 

 very large numbers in Poland and other parts of Central 

 Europe. A swarm drowned in the Baltic near Libau has been 

 rccordcfl arifl a still more remarkable swarm in the south of 



