124 INSi:CTS AT HOME. 



larvae often do very great harm, their powerful jaws ena})Hng 

 them to eat into the living as well as the dead wood, and into 

 the roots themselves. It remains in the larval state for at least 

 four, and perhaps as much as six years, and wlien it is about to 

 become a pupa, makes for itself a cocoon out of the wood-chips 

 with which it is surrounded. 



The jaws of the male are quite as formidable weapons as 

 they appear to be, the muscles which close them being very 

 powerful, and their sharp and strong teeth inflicting a severe 

 bite. My. Curtis mentions that the jaws retain the power of 

 biting long after tlie head has been separated from the body, and 

 that in one case when a severed head of a Stag Beetle was taken 

 home in the evening, it retained on the following morning 

 sufficient power to pinch the finger. Still, severe as is the 

 bite of the male Stag Beetle, that of the other sex is still more 

 severe, the points of the strong, sharp, ciu'ved jaws being made 

 to meet in tlie flesh. 



At first sight it would appear tliat the insect must be a car- 

 nivorous one, and that such formidable weapons were used for 

 the purjjose of capturing and destroying other insects. In 

 reality the Stag Beetle is essentially a feeder on juices, which 

 it obtains by wounding twigs and fruits with the sharp teeth 

 . of its mandibles. If kept in captivity, it will feed on moistened 

 sugar, .and has a curious way of flattening itself on the ground, 

 in order to reach the sugar with its tongue. Indeed, it only 

 uses its jaws as weapons of offence, when it fights for the pos- 

 session of the female, or when it is captured and wishes to 

 escape. It will bite fiercely in such a case, and, if kept alive, 

 will resent with open jaws any attempt to disturb it. 



On Woodcut XIII. Fig. 3, is represented an insect which is 



rcvidently allied to the Stag Beetle, the short, powerful, toothed 



vmandibles looking exactly like the tips of the Stag Beetle's 



jaws. This Beetle is called scientifically Dorcus paraUelopi- 



.rpQdus, but, I believe, has no popular name. The word Dorcus, 



in Greek, signifies an antelope, the name being given to the 



insect in consequence of the shape of its jaws, wliich are 



thought to resemble the horns of the antelope, as those of the 



preceding insect resemble the horns of the stag. The specific 



•fname.ig in. allusion to its peculiar form. 



