Sound-production in the Lamellicorn Beetles. 735 



Beneath it were the two beetles and four of their brood, 

 while the other two were making for the same shelter as 

 fast as intervening obstacles would allow. The chirping 

 of the whole party had all the time been audible, and my 

 friend is convinced that the larvie were guided by this 

 means into safely, exactly as chickens are by the clucking 

 of their mother. As they are without trace of eyes it is 

 difficult to resist this conclusion. 



In spite of tiie complex social relations long known 

 to exist among the Hymenoptera and other insects, an 

 organized family life such as this would a short time ago 

 have appearetl an almost startling discovery among beetles ; 

 but recent observations of the social life of many Scoly- 

 tidai by an American naturalist, Mr. H. G. Hubbard, have 

 shown that the prevailing idea of general individualism 

 in the Coleoptera is incorrect, and there is little doubt 

 that more study of the living insects would lead to the 

 discovery of many as yet unsuspected cases of social life 

 in the order. It seems likely from Mr. Shelford's observa- 

 tions in Borneo that the extraordinary Oarabid beetle 

 Mormoljicc will be found to afford a case similar to that 

 of the Passalidae. 



The last family of Lamellicornia of which the vocal 

 faculties remain to be investigated is that of the Stag- 

 beetles (Lucanidjii). The larvae of these are short-legged 

 grubs incapable of walking, but lying always in a bent 

 position, generally within decaying stumps. They are (piite 

 independent, however, each steadily eating his way through 

 a burrow of his own, and the duties of the mother end 

 with the deposition of the eggs in a suitable situation. 

 It is probable that stridulation is universal among these 

 larvio, of whicli there are species in all parts of the world 

 — at least Schiodte has found the apparatus in all the four 

 European genera, which represent four widely-separated 

 divisions of the family. 



If a larva of the common Stag-beetle (Lucanus cerims) is 

 held in the fingers it will utter a squeak, and it can be seen 

 that the movement by which this is done is the same as in 

 Geotriipes, that is, the last pair of logs is worked backwards 

 and forwards across a space at the base of each of the 

 second pair ; but examination shows that the functions of 

 the two opposing surfaces are reversed. The space at the 

 base of each intermeiliate leg is not ridged, as in both 

 Geotrupcs and Passalidaj, but irregularly studded with 



