THE COCKCHAFFER. 



467 



WE now come to the Lamellicorn beetles, so called from the beautiful plates, or 

 lamellae, which decorate the antennae. This family includes a vast number of species, 

 many of which, as, for example, the Common Cockchaffer, are extremely hurtful to 

 vegetation both in the larval and adult form. In this family are found the most gigantic 

 specimens of the Coleoptera, some of which look more like crabs than beetles, so huge 

 are they and so bizarre are their shapes. In all these creatures the lamella are larger and 

 more beautiful in the female than in the male insect. 



The COMMON COCKCHAFFER is too familiar to need any description of its personal 

 appearance, but the history of its life is not so widely known as its aspect. The mother 

 beetle commences operations by depositing the eggs in the ground, where in good time the 

 young are hatched. The grubs are unsightly looking objects, having the end of the body 

 so curved that the creatures cannot crawl in the ordinary fashion, but are obliged to lie on 

 their sides. They are furnished with two terribly trenchant jaws like curved shears, 

 and immediately set to work at their destructive labours. 



They feed mostly upon the roots of grasses and other plants, and when in great 

 numbers have been known to ruin an entire harvest. To turf they are especially 

 destructive, shearing away the roots with their scissor-like jaws and killing the vege- 

 tation so effectually that the turf withers, turns yellow, then brown, and can be taken up 



COCKCHAFFER. Melolontha vulgwris. 



STAG BEETLE. Lucanus ctrous. 



and rolled by hand. Several birds, among which the rooks, crows, and blackbirds are 

 our best allies, are very fond of these grubs, which are little more than soft lumps of fat 

 enclosed in a thin but tough skin, and by the aid of their delicate senses are enabled to 

 detect the larva as it carries on its insidious task below the ground. For three years it 

 continues in its larval state ; and after a brief sojourn in the pupal condition changes its 

 skin for the last time, and emerges from the ground a perfect Cockchaffer. 



Even in its perfect state it is a terribly destructive insect, working sad havoc among 

 the foliage of trees. I have seen whole rows of trees entirely stripped of leaves by the 

 Cockchaffers " hannetonne'es," as the French call the results of the Cockchaffer's depre- 

 dations. In the evening, however, when the Cockchaffers begin to fly abroad, the 

 nightjar issues from its home, and spends the night in flying round the trees, snapping 

 up with unerring aim every Cockchaffer that ventures within its swoop. The larvse, or 

 grubs, of the Cockchaffer are popularly known among agriculturists by the names of 

 White Worm and Connaught Worm. In some countries, however, the fat oily bodies of 

 the grubs are turned to account, being boiled for the purpose of extracting the oil, which 

 is used for greasing wheels and other similar purposes. 



H H 2 



