ORDER I. BEETLES. 41 



proceeding from which live from four to six years before 

 they become perfect. When full grown, they are three 

 inches long, thick, of a straw color, with a yellow head, 

 brown jaws, and nine air-holes on each side of the body. 



Two years ago I removed the post of my garden gate, 

 which was of oak and had become decayed, and found 

 around it, below the surface of the ground, more than 

 thirty of these grubs, which I put in a vessel with the same 

 decayed wood, but they died during the winter. 



The Stag Beetle of Europe is of the same fonn and color, 

 but more than as large again, and is therefore the largest 

 Beetle of Europe. 



The Cossus (grubs), which the ancient Romans considered 

 so great a delicacy, were taken by them from oak-trees, and 

 were probably the same species. Pliny says, " Praegrandes 

 roborum delicatiores sunt in cibo : Cossos vocant." 



The larva of the Stag Beetle, when full grown, prepares 

 from the earth its cocoon, which is of an oval form, and in 

 which it remains about four weeks, after which time it 

 emerges as a perfect insect. These Beetles are found in all 

 the States of the Union. 



The Indian Cetoxia (Cetonia Inda). — One of the ear- 

 liest Beetles which the wandering natural- Fi<-ure s 

 ist meets on his exploring expeditions is the 

 pretty Indian Cetonia. These little creat- 

 ures, clad in a modest copper-brown dress, 

 and covered with short hairs, are seen, in 

 the months of April and May, flying like 

 bumble-bees for short distances only and 

 then alighting in the sand. Their beauty ^'''^^^ ^'^°°^ 

 and their early appearance very generally awaken the 

 pleasant anticipations of a tropical temperature. 



Several years ago I made an excursion on the first day 

 of May with a young gentleman from Germany, an enthu- 

 siastic amateur in Entomology and Natural History gener- 



