PACKING BEETLES. 



199 



killed one of these long-horned Beetles, he pushes it head fore- 

 most into a suitable cylinder, talcing care to let the antennae lie 

 along the sides of the body. The ends are then stopped, and 

 there is the Beetle, perfectly safe. When packed for travelling, 

 the cylinders, each with a Beetle inside it, are arranged in boxes, 

 just like cigars, and by means of a little cotton-wool, tow, or 

 similar substance, are kept from shaking about. When the cases 

 are unpacked, the stoppers are taken out of the cylinders, and 

 the Beetles gently drawn out with fine forceps. They are then 

 placed in the " relaxing" pans, and in a day or two they are as 

 easily set as if they had only just been killed. 



Next come the Attelabidie, a family in which the antennae 

 are not elbowed, as is the case with most Weevils. We have 

 only two examples of this family in England. One of them, 

 Attelabus curcidionoides, is well known for the peculiar mode in 

 which the female attacks the young leaves of oaks, i.e. by rolling 

 them up in packets shaped like thimbles, and placing her eggs 

 in the packets. It is a common insect, and most persons who 

 use their eyes must have seen these thimble-like masses on 

 the oak-trees. 



The very remarkable insect Trachelophorus giraffa is a native 

 of Madagascar, and is exceedingly rare, the specimen from which 

 the drawing was taken being believed 

 to be the only one known. 



In this insect the antennae are only 

 of moderate length, but the head and 

 thorax, especially the former, are in- 

 ordinately elongated. The colour of 

 the elytra is very dark red, and they 

 are covered with punctures arranged 

 in parallel rows. The body is stout 

 and thick, and suddenly turned down- 

 wards at about two-thirds of its length 

 from the base. The head and antennae are very dark, steely blue. 



The head is very movable in an up-and-down direction, and 

 when it is bent downwards nearly at a right angle the Beetle 

 has a most singular, not to say grotesque appearance, the attitude 

 bearing much resemblance to that of a giraffe when trying to eat 

 something on the ground. It is to this resemblance that the 



FtG. 95. -Traoheloiihoi'us giralla. 



(Steel-blue head and thorax, dark 



red elytra.) 



