BEETLES 71 



powerful mandibles, and are either legless, or have only 

 very small legs. Their bodies are soft and fleshy, 

 white or yellowish-white in colour, broadest in front, 

 and generally somewhat flattened. Most of them 

 burrow in dead or decaying wood, but a few attack 

 living stems. The full-fed larva usually constructs a 

 cocoon of chips before changing to the pupa. 



The majority of our indigenous Longicorns are rare, 

 but three or four are sufficiently abundant to attract 

 popular attention. One of these is the so-called wasp- 

 beetle, 1 which frequents wild roses and other flowers 

 during the early summer. Its coloration black, with 

 yellow bands suggests that of a wasp, whence its 

 name. The larvae, which tunnel in decaying posts 

 or the stumps of dead trees, take several years to 

 attain full growth, and in conditions unfavourable to 

 their development seem able to prolong their larval 

 life almost indefinitely. 



The poplar long-horn 2 places its eggs beneath the 

 bark of young aspen twigs, within which the larvae feed 

 for nearly two years, each giving rise to a character- 

 istic swelling, or " gall." The pine long-horn 3 is of ten 

 abundant in fir woods, where on warm days in June it 

 may be seen flying among the trees, or running over 

 logs or dead trunks, beneath the bark of which the 

 larvae feed The beautiful green musk-beetle 4 must 

 also be mentioned. As its name suggests, it emits a 

 pleasing odour that is sufficiently strong to be detected 

 at some distance from trees (usually old, pollarded 

 willows), in which it breeds. The most remarkable of all 

 British long-horns, however, is the timberman-beetle, 6 

 which occurs at Rannoch, in Perthshire, and other 



1 Clytus arietis. 2 Saperda populnea. 3 Rhagium bifasciatum. 

 * A romi a moschata. 5 Acanthocinus cedilis. 



