128 



LAMELLICORNES ; SCARAB^I. 



common Dor or Shard-borne Beetle; which is one of the com- 

 monest of all Beetles in this country. One of the most 



FIG. 344. ATEUCHUS (ScARA. 



jEOYPTIORUM. 



FIG. 346.> DYNASTES HERCULES. 



Fio. 345. GEOTRUPKS STERCORARIUS. 



remarkable amongst foreign species is the Dynastes Hercules, 



a native of Brazil, 

 which attains the 

 length of 5 inches, 

 and of which 

 the male pos- 

 sesses an enor- 

 mous horn pro- 

 jecting from the 

 head, which is 

 opposed by a corresponding protuberance from the thorax. To 

 this group also belongs the Melolontha vulgaris or common 

 Cockchafer ; which is most destructive to vegetation in both its 

 larva and perfect conditions, feeding on the roots in the one case, 

 and on the leaves and young shoots in the 

 other. The larvse live for three or four 

 years beneath the ground; becoming lethargic 

 in winter, but actively voracious in summer. 

 Their excessive multiplication is usually pre- 

 vented by birds'; but if these be kept away, 

 they increase very rapidly, and become a 

 complete pest to the cultivator. The perfect 

 insects sometimes make their appearance in such swarms, as to 



FIG. 347- LARVA OF 

 COCKCHAFER. 



