COURTSHIP AND MATING OF INSECTS 159 



fringed with dark blue, and spangled with small turquoise spots; 

 and the pectoral fins are of a delicate lavender-gray, with serried 

 dark-brown spots. The female is but a dish-clout in respect of 

 him." In still another species of Dragonet (C. carebares), how- 

 ever, it is the female which is beautiful, and she no doubt takes 

 the lead in courtship. It is interesting to note that Alcock has 

 described an Indian flat-fish (Arnoglossus macro lophus] in which 

 the male possesses a long crest, owing to the excessive develop- 

 ment of the rays at the front end of the dorsal fin, somewhat 

 as in the Dragonets above described. 



COURTSHIP AND MATING OF INSECTS (!NSECTA) 



THE LAW OF BATTLE. The jaws of some male beetles are 

 of enormous size (fig. 1116), and to these are sometimes added 

 conspicuous horn-like outgrowths from the head or thorax. 

 These features have suggested such names as " stag beetle ", 



Fig. 1116. A Tropical Beetle (Chiasognathus Grantii}. Male on left; female on right 



" rhinoceros beetle", &c. Such structures may possibly be used 

 in fights for the possession of mates, but this has not so far 

 been proved, and the matter must remain unsettled until our 

 knowledge of habits is more complete. 



Various male insects have, however, been observed fighting 

 for partners, and Darwin (in The Descent of Man) gives appa- 



