ROSE-BEETLE ; STAG-BEETLES. 



129 



devastate an entire forest. To this group also belongs the 

 Cetonia aurata or Rose-beetle, a very common British insect, of 

 which a figure has been already given (Fig. 335) ; it is about an 

 inch long, of a shining-green colour above, coppery-red beneath, 

 with white marks on the elytra. In its larva state, it frequents 

 rotten timber and wood, and is often met with underground in 

 ants' nests, where it would seem to feed upon the bits of wood 

 of which they are composed ; from this circumstance it is some- 

 times called the " king of the ants." After remaining about 

 three years in the larva state, it makes a sort of cocoon of chips 

 of wood, glued together by an excretion of its own ; in this it 

 passes the winter in the state of an inactive pupa, from which it 

 emerges in the following summer in its perfect form. The Rose- 

 beetle flies well, with a considerable humming noise, during the 

 hottest part of the day ; and goes from flower to flower (not 

 confining itself to Roses, but seeming to prefer them), sucking the 

 honey from their interior, and sometimes devouring their nectaries. 



652. The Lucani, or Stag-Beetles, derive their common name 

 from the peculiar form of the mandibles, which are very large, 

 curved, and toothed, like stags' horns (Fig, 316). The Lucanus 

 cervus, a highly-characteristic species of the group, is one of the 

 largest of British insects, the males being two inches or more in 

 length. This species flies about in the evening, in the middle of 

 summer, especially round the oaks, upon the wood of which the 

 larva feeds ; remaining in that state 



for several years, before undergoing its 

 final transformation. The accompanying 

 figure represents the Dorcus parallelipi- 

 pedugj or Small Stag-Beetle of this 

 country ; which is far less striking 

 than the larger species in regard to the 

 development of its maxillae. Some of 

 the exotic species of this group are very 

 large and splendidly coloured. 



653. Section II. HETEROMERA. The 

 Coleoptera of the Second section, cha- 

 racterised by possessing five joints in the tarsi of the two anterior 



FlG. 348. DORCUS PARALLBLt- 

 PIPEDUS. 



