LUCERNE LU TR A. 



npplied the maxillae ; it also frequently attempted to 

 bile Mr. Waterhousc's finger, without, however, caus- 

 ing- a wound, and afterwards applied the maxillae, but 

 finding- no fluid it renewed its attempts several times. 

 Ent. Soc. Trans., vol. 1, p. vi. 



The lower lip is in like manner formed of two 

 shorter but similar pencils, and the mouth is closed 

 beneath by a large horny plate, of a semicircular or 

 square form. 



The perfect insects are found upon the trunks of 

 trees, such as the lime, the elm, and the willow; they 

 sit with the head much elevated, in consequence 

 of the size of the fore legs. They appear about the 

 middle of summer, the males flying about in the 

 evenings after sun-set. We have, however, seen 

 Li. cervus on the wing in the middle of the day. The 

 females are very sluggish, and seldom take wing. 

 The larva? of the common species, found in the 

 rotten wood of oaks, willows, &c., are large fleshy 

 grubs, nearly similar in form to those of the CctordidaK, 

 and are supposed by some authors to have been eaten 

 by the Romans, under the name of Cossiis. In this 

 state ihey live three or four years, at the end of which 

 time they form a cocoon of chips of wood, glued 

 together with a secretion which they emit, within 

 which they are transformed to pupre, and shortly 

 afterwards to the imago state, when, notwithstanding 

 the powerful and threatening aspect of the males, 

 they are very harmless creatures. 



The family comprises two sections, those with 

 membranaceous and those with horny, toothed max- 

 illae, the latter comprising the exotic genus Passalns 

 The majority of the genera are exotic, and nothing 

 is known of their habits. The three British species 

 compose as many genera, namely, Lucaniis, Dorcas, 

 and Platyccrus. The two latter are distinguished 

 from the first by the comparatively smaller size of 

 the mandibles of the males. The Lucnnus cervus is 

 the largest of our British beetles, and is common in 

 some localities in the neighbourhood of London. 

 The male is often two inches lon:, of a black colour, 

 with chestnut-coloured elytra. It is subject to con- 

 siderable variation in size as well as in the number of 

 the teeth with which the mandibles arc armed. The 

 female is considerably smaller. 



LUCERNE. Is the Medico 'go sativa ' of Linnaeus, 

 a valuable pasture and forage plant, extensively cul- 

 tivated in some of the chalky districts of England 

 and France. Whether as green food, or as hay for 

 horses, it is inestimable. 



LUCINA (Lamarck.) A trenus of bivalve 

 molluscs, whose animal is but little known, except 

 the species mentioned by Poli the Loripede. These 

 shells seem allied to the telens, by the formation of 

 their hinges, particularly on account of the lateral 

 teeth. They also, in many of the species, possess an 

 angular depression distinctly marked, but they are 

 never flexuous. This circumstance probably induced 

 Linnaeus to class them with his genus Venus, which 

 seems to have been a refuge for numberless stray 

 bivalves now established into distinct, genera. This 

 shell is suborbicular, inequilateral, with small pointed 

 apices. The hinge very variable in different species, 

 but usually with two divergent primary teeth, one 

 bifid these change or become obsolete with age : 

 two lateral teeth, the posterior one nearest the hinge, 

 two muscular impressions very widely separated, the 

 posterior one prolonged into a small band, sometimes 

 extending to the centre of the valve. De Blainville 



NAT. HIST. VOL. III. 



has included in this germ?, this Amphidesma of La- 

 marck, and the genera Fimlria and Corbula of Cuvier, 

 De France has described many fossil species. 



LUCUMA (Jussieu.) A genus of South Ame- 

 rican fruit trees, belonging te the fifth class of sexual 

 botany, and to the natural order Saj;ote<z. Generic 

 character calyx in five parts ; corolla bell-shaped, 

 swollen in the middle ; limb five-cleft ; stamens in- 

 serted into the tube ; style simple ; stigma obtuse ; 

 fruit an apple from five to ten-celled, each cell one- 

 seeded. These plants thrive in rich loam, and may 

 be propagated by cuttings. 



LUNARIA (Linnaeus.) A genus of biennial and 

 perennial herbs, natives v of Europe ; so called from 

 bearing broad silvery dissepiments resembling a full 

 moon. The flowers are tetradynamous, and the 

 genus belongs to Cruciferae. In English lists this 

 plant is known by the name of "honesty." 



LUNGWORT. Is the Pulmonaria officinalis of 

 Linnaeus, a British herbaceous plant found in damp 

 woods. The leaves are speckled like human lungs. 



LUPINUS (Tournefort). A genus of annual 

 and perennial fine flowering herbs, mostly natives of 

 America. The flowers are monadelphous, and the 

 plants belong to Leguminosee. The lupines need no 

 description, being so well known. A few very fine 

 perennial species have been introduced within these 

 tew years, which are among the gayest ornaments of 

 the flower garden. 



LUTRA otter. A genus of carnivorous mam- 

 malia, belonging to Cuvier's second tribe, or those 

 which are digitigrade, or walk on the toes ; but which 

 differ from the clog and cat families in the form of 

 their bodies, which are long and flexible, and low on 

 the legs, on which account they are sometimes called 

 vermiform, or worm-shaped. This particular struc- 

 ture gives them great facilities in passing through 

 small openings ; and thus following prey which is not 

 accessible to the other tribes of the order. In many 

 particulars, the otter resembles the martens and pole- 

 cats ; but it differs in other respects. The characters 

 of the teeth are : three false grinders in each side, 

 both above and below ; and a very strong talus or 

 heel to the carnivorous tooth in the upper jaw. Their 

 head is compressed, and their tongue is a little rough, 

 or intermediate between that of the cat and the dog. 

 But the chief particulars in which they differ from the 

 martens and pole-cats, are those of the feet and the 

 tail : the former being webbed and adapted for 

 swimming, and the latter flattened horizontally. They 

 are aquatic in their habits, and feed chiefly upon 

 fishes, though they sometimes prey upon those smaller 

 mammalia, which, like themselves, inhabit the banks 

 of lakes and streams. They are all bold and strong 

 animals in proportion to their size, their bite is very 

 keen and determined, and they are resolute both in 

 pursuit of their prey and in defending themselves 

 when attacked. Though the teeth of the otters bear 

 a very great resemblance, in number and in general 

 structure, to those of the martens, yet the crowns of 

 the cheek teeth are so formed as to be better adapted 

 for bruising or grinding their food, than for cutting it. 

 It must not be supposed, however, that this is deci- 

 dedly an approximation to a less carnivorous habit 

 than that of the martens ; for though, from the form 

 of their teeth, the otters could prepare vegetable food 

 much better for their stomachs than the martens, the 

 adaptation is chiefly to the nature of their finny prey, 

 wilich, not being of so tough &\ d fibrous a nature, is 

 E 



