A GIGANTIC BEETLE. 



101 



extent of colour is so great, that scarcely any two specimens are 

 exactly alike. Some, for example, have the elytra nearly all 

 black, some are almost entirely brown, and some have scarcely 

 any black about them. It has already been mentioned that in 

 the Lucanidas the males are liable to extreme variation in size, 

 and it is rather remarkable that in this genus the females are 

 principally varied in colour. This Beetle inhabits China and 

 Northern India, and it is thought that certain well-marked 

 varieties occur within certain geographical limits, as is the case 

 with the Chinese Tiger Beetle. 



Fig. 46. — Odontolabria Cuvera. 

 (Blauk aud warm yellow. ) 



There are several acknowledged species of the genus, the 

 largest of which is Odoiitolabris dux, a really gigantic insect. 

 Not only is it four inches in length, but it is broad, sturdy, and 

 thick-set, and must be enormously powerful. When I first saw 

 the splendid specimen in the British Museum, it recalled to my 

 mind a saying of a well-known German physiologist, who occu- 

 pied the table next to mine in the dissecting-room. " Ach," he 

 muttered, sot to voce, " I wish a peetle so pig as a lopster." The 

 incident had almost been forgotten, when the sight of this 

 splendid insect recalled it to my mind, and I could not help 



thinking that if Dr. C could only have possessed the insect 



before it was pinned and dried, his desire for "a peetle so pig as 



