220 



SUMMER 



They are pre-eminently miners rather than fliers, whether 

 they burrow in the earth, in decaying wood, or in carrion. 

 It would be impossible for a butterfly, or even a bee, to 

 drive galleries in any of these substances without damaging 

 or defiling its wings past remedy. For combining such a 

 life with the power of flight, beetles have had to develop 

 the horny sheaths to their wings which are their distin- 

 guishing mark among 

 insects. More terres- 

 trial than aerial, most 

 of them are bulky and 

 bullet-like in build, and 

 in order to support this 

 bulk in the air they 

 need a large spread 

 of wing. The wings 

 cannot therefore be 

 merely covered by the 

 wing - cases, or they 

 would be too small ; 

 they must be folded 

 up, almost like a tent 

 in the bag which holds 



it. Once the packing-up is finished, the beetle can push 

 its way through almost anything without injuring its gauzy 

 membrane. The hard wing-case wards off all stains and 

 scratches. But this protection is not secured without a 

 penalty. Unfolding the wings for flight and folding them 

 up again afterwards are both rather laborious and compli- 

 cated operations ; a beetle cannot flick into the air as easily 

 as a butterfly, but must make considerable preparations. 

 They suggest a sailing vessel starting from a quay. The 

 awkwardness of a beetle's flight is largely due to the now 



STAG-BEETLE 



