THE COCKCHAFER AND THE STAG BEETLE. 



617 



Commou Cockchafer — are extremely hurtful to vegetation in both the 

 larval and adult form. In this family are found the most gigantic 

 specimens of the Coleoptera, some of which look more like crabs than 

 beetles, so huge are they and so bizarre are their 

 shapes. In all these creatures the lamellae are 

 larger and more beautiful in the female than in 

 the male insect. 



The Common Cockchafer is too familiar to 

 need any description of its personal appearance, 

 but the history of its life is not so widely known 

 as its aspect. The mother-beetle commences op- 

 erations by depositing the eggs in the ground, 

 where in good time the young are hatched. The 

 grubs are unsightly-looking objects, having the 

 end of the body so curved that the creatures can- The Burying Beetle 

 not crawl in the ordinary fashion, but are obliged ^^'^'<'P^^''^' vestigator). 

 to lie on their sides. They are furnished with tw^o terribly trenchant 

 jaws like curved shears, and immediately set to work at their destruc- 

 tive labors. 



They feed mostly upon the roots of grasses and other plants, and 

 when in great numbers have been known to ruin an entire harvest. To 

 turf they are especially destructive, shearing aw^ay the roots with their 

 scissordike jaws and killing the vegetation effectually. For three 

 years the future insect continues in its larval state, and after a brief 

 sojourn in the pupal condition changes its skin for the last time, and 

 emerges from the ground a perfect Cockchafer. Even in its perfect 

 state it is a terribly destructive insect, working 

 sad havoc among the foliage of trees. 



The Stag Beetle is the largest of our British 

 Coleoptera, and when it has attained its full di- 

 mensions is an extremely powerful and rather 

 formidable insect, its enormous mandibles being 

 able to inflict a very painful bite, not only on 

 account of the powerful muscles by which they 

 are moved, but in consequence of the antler-like 

 projections with which their tips are armed. These 

 horn-like jaws belong only to the male, those of the 

 female being simply sharp and curved mandibles, 

 in no way conspicuous. 

 The larvse of the Stag Beetle reside in trees, into which they burrow 

 with marvellous facility, and, as they appear to cling to the familiar 

 neighborhood after they have emerged from their holes, they may be 

 found upon or near the trees in which they have been bred. 



From the formidable shape of the mandibles it might be supposed 



52* 



The Cockchafer 



{Melolontha vulgaris). 



