106 THE LAMELLICORNIA. 



tibiae, especially the anterior pair. The head and 

 thorax are often armed with tubercles, or even horn- 

 like processes, especially in the males ; but this is the 

 case more particularly with the exotic species, although 

 some of the British insects of this group are suffi- 

 ciently remarkable in this respect. Their larvae are 

 always large fleshy grubs, furnished with a horny 

 head, and with six rather weak legs ; their power of 

 locomotion is very small, as the extremity of the 

 abdomen is strongly bent downwards, so that it would 

 be impossible for them to creep upon a flat surface. 

 They always live either in the earth, or in the midst 

 of the substances which serve them as nourishment. 



This tribe includes the giants of the insect world, 

 and although these are for the most part confined to 

 the tropical regions, some of the British species are 

 amongst the largest of our native insects. As an 

 example of these, we may notice the common Stag 

 Beetle (Lucanus Cervus), which may be met with 

 abundantly in the southern counties of England. 

 The male often measures nearly three inches in 

 length, including a most formidable pair of mandi- 

 bles, which are sometimes nearly an inch long, and 

 which, from their being furnished with snags on the 

 inside, and usually forked at the tip, present some 

 resemblance to the antlers of a stag, and have thus 

 obtained for the insect its English name. These 

 powerful nippers are peculiar to the male, the man- 

 dibles of the female being much smaller, although 

 still formidable organs. The Stag Beetle is of a 

 brownish black colour, with the mandibles and elytra 

 chestnut-brown ; the head in the male is very broad, 

 and surrounded by a strong ridge ; the antennae are 

 geniculated (as in the Histers), and terminated by 



