THE COCKCHAFFER. 



467 



\VF, 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 tc 

 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, sc 

 huge are they and so bizarre are their shapes. In all these creatures the lamellae 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 persona! 

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

 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 labors. 



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 



COCK CHAFFER. -Meloloatha vulgarls. 



STAG BEETLE. Lucanu* cervus. 



up 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 larvae 

 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 oil) 

 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. 



