COLEOPTEEA. 



465 



They only fly in the evening, holding themselves nearly straight so 

 as not to see-saw. Their larvae which are whitish, with russety 

 heads, whose existence in that state lasts nearly four years live in 

 the interior of trees. Many naturalists think that the larva of the 

 Lucanus was the Cossus of the Romans, which figured on the 

 tables of the rich patricians, and particularly of Lucullus. 



Fig. 448. Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus). Fig. 449. Lucanus (Homoderus) Mellyi. 



Fig. 448 represents the Stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) ; Fig. 449, 

 an exotic species, the Lucanus {Homoderus) Mellyi, from Gabon ; 

 Fig. 450, the Lucanus betticosus ; and Fig. 451, another exotic 

 species from Coelebes, Lucanus Titan. 



The Syndesus cornutus (Fig. 452) of Tasmania, and the Ckiasog- 

 nathus Grantii, from the coast of Chili (Fig. 453), of a beautiful 

 golden green, shot with copper, belong to genera akin to Lucanus. 



We arrive now at the tribe of Silphales, which are still more 

 useful to man than the Dung beetles (Scarab&ides) , since many of 

 them disencumber the soil of the carcasses of animals in a state of 



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