THE INSECTS OF THE GREEN LANES. 181 



All our common British beetles have not the 

 same claim to attention, as regards colour and 

 perfume, as many of the species we have just 

 noticed. Indeed, some of them appear to obtain one 

 chief source of their defence from the noisome 

 odours they can throw forth at will. Others again 

 are very fierce, and of these none more so than the 

 well-known Cocktail beetle, which derives its name 

 from its habit of curling the end of its long body 

 over its back. The wing-cases are very short in 

 the group to which this beetle belongs. At the 

 end of the body are two glands, whence the stench 

 proceeds that is so very offensive. The commonest 

 species, perhaps, is that known as the "Devil's 

 Coach-horse " (Ocypus oleus), a formidable looking 

 object, a great carnivore, and possessing consider- 

 able powers of endurance. We once cut off the 

 head of one of these beetles, for the purpose of 

 preparing the eyes for the microscope. It was 

 placed in a pill-box, and more than two hours 

 afterwards the separated head retained strength 

 and vitality sufficient to bite through a piece of 

 paper ! It well deserves its diabolical name, for we 

 know no other insect which comprehends such a 

 number of repelling traits. And yet it has consider- 

 able courage, for if you point your stick at it, it will 

 seize it, cocking its tail the while, and emitting its 

 noisome stench. It is a very swift walker, perhaps 

 the quickest of all our native species ; and you may 

 see it rattling across the path and sticking up its 



