28 STAG-CHAFFER. 



and under-parts are coal-black, and the wings, 

 which, except during flight, are concealed under 

 the shells, are large, and of a fine pale yellowish- 

 brown. This remarkable insect is chiefly found 

 in the neighbourhood of oak trees, delighting in 

 the sweet exsudation or honey-dew so frequently 

 observed on the leaves. Its larva, which perfectly 

 resembles that of the genuine Beetles, is also 

 found in the hollows of oak trees ; residing in the 

 fine vegetable mould usually seen in such cavities, 

 and feeding on the softer parts of the decayed 

 wood. It is of very considerable size, of a pale 

 yellowish or whitish brown colour, and when 

 stretched out at full length, measures nearly four 

 inches*. Its general posture however is the curved 

 one exhibited in the annexed plate. When arriv- 

 ed at its full size, which, according to some, is 

 hardly sooner than the fifth or sixth year, it forms, 

 by frequently turning itself, and moistening it with 

 its glutinous saliva, a smooth oval hollow in the 

 earth in which it lies, and afterwards remaining per- 

 fectly still for the space of near a month, divests itself 

 of its skin, and commences pupa or chrysalis. It 

 is now of a shorter form than before, of a rather 



* It has been supposed by Roesel, and not without a consider- 

 able degree of probability, that these Larvae were the Cossi of 

 the ancient Romans, which, according to Pliny, were in high 

 esteem as an article of luxury. What renders this supposition 

 the more probable is that the larvae of a species of Cerambyx, as 

 well as of a Cvirculio, are well known to be greatly admired by 

 the inhabitants of the West Indian islands, and are frequently 

 collected at a great expence, as a highly delicate dish, being 

 broiled or fried for that purpose. 



