618 



THE CHRYSOCHEOA AND THE GLOW-WORM. 



that the Stag Beetle was one of the predaceous species. This, however, 

 is not the case, the food of this fine insect consisting mostly, if not 

 wholly, of the juices of vegetables, which it wounds with the jaws, so 



as to cause the sap to flow. It is true 

 that specimens have been detected in 

 the act of assaulting other insects, but 

 they never seem to have been observed 

 in the act of feeding upon their victim. 

 AVhether the food be of animal or veg- 

 etable nature, it is always liquid, and is 

 lapped or swept up by a kind of brush 

 which forms part of the mouth and 

 looks like a double pencil of shining 

 orange-colored hairs. 



Passing by one or two families of 

 more or less importance, we arrive at 

 the Buprestidie, a family of Beetles re- 

 markable for the extraordinary gorge- 

 ousness of their tints, almost every im- 

 aginable hue being found upon these 

 brilliant insects. 



They are found in many portions of 

 'the globe, but, as is generally the case 

 with insects, their colors take the great- 

 est intensity within the tropics. They 

 fly well and seem to exult in the hot- 

 test sunshine, where the bright beams 

 cause their burnished raiment to flash 

 forth its most dazzling hues. They 

 are, however, slow of foot, and when 

 alarmed have a habit of falling to the ground with folded limbs, as if 

 they were dead. 



The Chrysochroa is one of the finest of this splendid family. The 

 sides of the thorax are covered with little round pits, something like 

 the depressions on the head of a thimble, and are of a fiery copper 

 hue. The head and middle of the thorax are light burnished blue, 

 like that of a well-tempered watch-spring, and the elytra are warm 

 cream-colored, diversified with a patch of deep purple-blue at each 

 side, and another at the tip. This insect is a native of India. 



The celebrated Glow-worm belongs to the typical genus of its fam- 

 ily. 



Contrary to the usual rule among insects, where the male absorbs 

 the whole of the beauty and the female is comparatively dull and 

 sombre in color and form, the female carries oflT the palm for beauty— 



The Stag Beetle ( Lucanus 



