256 



Bugs, Butterflies, and Beetles 



GOAT- BEETLES CAPRICORN - BEETLES 



These beetles will not butt you and they will 

 not make a noise like a nanny goat. They are 

 called Capricorn- or goat-beetle because their an- 

 tennae are long and often bend back in a curve like 

 the horns of a goat (Fig. 232). The bodies of the 

 goat-beetles are generally long and rounded. Their 

 short heads are armed with powerful jaws. I have 



seen one of them grasp 

 the point of a six-H 

 lead pencil with his 

 jaws and hold the pen- 

 cil erect, a feat of 

 strength which would 

 make Samson's work 

 child's play by com- 

 parison. They might be called the beetles with the 

 iron jaws. 



Most of the goat-beetles have long legs and 

 four- jointed feet with wide-cushioned soles. When 

 you pick one of them up, it will squeak like a little 

 mouse, but insects' voices do not come from their 

 lungs; they make a noise by rubbing some of their 

 joints together. Goat-beetles rub their thorax and 

 belly- joints together to make the squeaking noise. 



