COLEOPTERA. 325 



nastes * Hercules,} nearly six inches long, and very 

 broad. Others, also very large, (Goliathus,^ &c.) 

 are noted for the metallic splendour of their green 

 elytra, an idea of which may be formed from our 

 own common but very handsome Rose-beetle, (Ce- 

 tonia Aurata^) so often found on flowers, like many 

 of its family. The larvae of all these last appear 

 to feed on decaying wood, as do those of another 

 family allied to this, the Stag-beetles, (Lucanus,%) 

 which appear however to attack trees in a much 

 earlier stage of decay, boring long galleries into their 

 substance while yet standing, and sometimes while 

 yet alive. The perfect Stag-beetle is distinguished 

 for the length and stoutness of its mandibles, which 

 take the appearance of stags' horns ; sometimes, 

 these are of a coral-red hue. It has been affirmed 

 that the use, long unknown, of these horn-like jaws, 

 is this : grasping a young and tender shoot of an 

 ash or oak with the mandibles, the Stag-beetle un- 

 folds its large wings, and flies rapidly round and 

 round as if upon a pivot ; the action soon cuts 

 through the green bark, and the insect then feeds 

 on the juices which exude. Our largest native 

 Beetle (L. Cervus) is of this genus. 



The timber-eaters, in fact, include by far the 

 greatest number of Beetles, as well as those which 

 are of largest size. In the dense tropical forests 

 of America, Africa, and Asia, where the insect tribes 



* Awa<r<r>?j, dynastes, a lord. 



t From Goliath, on account of their size. 



+ Lucanus, belonging to the dawn. 



