— 192 — 



during which the species has existed, the gradual disappearance of poor- 

 ly developed specimens has produced the present monstrosity — a monu- 

 ment to the evil passions of the Coleoptera. 



Mr. Sharp is deeply grieved at such an immoral proceeding and I 

 quote his closing and affecting words: "If I am correct in my suppositions 

 "about this insect, those of us who are evolutionists will have to admit 

 "that the organisation of this extraordinary creature has been evoluted 

 "in correlation with sexual combats through a long series of ages, 

 •'and there has thus resulted a most extraordinary perfection of struct- 

 "ures directly and indirectly connected with this object. This is so 

 "abhorrent to our moral sense, that we may feel gratified that we can 

 "also point to the fact, that these structures are unique, and that out 

 "of hundreds of thousands of insects now known to us, there is nothing 

 "to indicate that any other has passed through a similar evolutionary 

 ' 'record. ' 



It will be observed that Mr Sharp does not allude to the subterranean 

 life of the insect, of which ne appears in fact to have been ignorant, for 

 he regrets that he can furnish no satisfactory explanation of the form of 

 the hind femora, unless they assist in the sexual combats as sketched 

 above. It was reserved for M. Lameere to revive the previously known 

 fact of the insect being subterranean, and thus complete its history as I 

 have given it above — taking most of my facts from M. Lameere's article. 

 M. Lameere examined a number of specimens, and found in several, the 

 wounds of which Mr. Sharp wrote, and in one specimen a similar one in 

 the much smaller upper membrane. He therefore adopts Mr. Sharp's 

 theory as to their cause and of the development of the lateral processes 

 by sexual selection; but considers that the other parts have attained their 

 present form entirely through a process of natural selection, due to the 

 subterranean habit of the beetle. 



To return to its position in classification for a moment; j\I. Lameere 

 in support of his placing H. armatus among the Longicorns advances 

 some interesting theories as to the antennae and tarsi. In his own words: 

 "It is scarcely necessary to remark that long antennae would be ex- 

 "tremely inconvenient for a longicorn so well adapted to a subterranean 

 "life and that even on the surface Ihey would be useless, since it has 

 "lost its wings. And as to the tarsi, just as the limbs o^ Mammalia 

 "were originally furnished with five fingers which diminished in number 

 "under special circumstances, so the legs of Coleoptera seem to have once 

 "uniformly terminated in five-jointed tarsi, which have varied in the 

 "process of evolution, as they were needed for running or for attaching 

 "the insect to trees. If the insect needed adaption to walking Of 

 "running habits, its tarsi would become as long as possible; and there- 



