40 NORTH AMERICAN INSECTS. 
Lamellicorn. Its head is very short, but provided with a 
curved horn two lines in length. It has two very short, 
pincher-like jaws, a bright, vaulted thorax, with an inter- 
mediate line, wing-covers striated and very bright, and six 
short legs, covered with brown hair. It lives in the trunks 
of decayed trees, and is found in all parts of our country, 
from New England to Mexico and the West India Islands. 
Nearly allied to this insect, and very much resembling it 
in many respects, is 
The Srac BrEetie (Lucanus dama).— This is an insect 
known to almost every body. It is an inch and a half 
long, of a chestnut color, with prominent pincher-like jaws, 
which, however, in the female, are very short, and not larger 
than those of the Horned Passalus. Its legs are quite long, 
and terminate in two sharp claws. 
They are called Stag Beetles on account of their pronged 
jaws, similar to the horns of stags. They live principally 
upon oak trees, and lick the dew from the trees, as well as 
the sweet brown juice which oozes out from the stem of oak 
trees, and if you put honey on the point of a knife they will 
follow after it, as a dog will follow a piece of meat. They 
may be seen flying around these trees toward night in the 
months of July and August. 
These Beetles are well known to our youth, and attract 
their attention by their singular form, but particularly by 
their prominent jaws, with which they pinch very hard. 
Wood-cutters often bring them home as playthings for their 
children, for which present, however, the little fellows some- 
times have to pay with their tears. In some countries the 
boys make tiny wagons, which they load with cherries or 
raspberries, and to which, for their amusement, they har- 
ness these Beetles, making them as beasts of draught. 
In the month of June or July, according to the temper- 
ature of the country, the Stag Beetle deposits in decayed 
oak wood her eggs, which are oval and yellow, the larve 
