THE INSECTS OF THE GREEN LANES. 185 



which it belongs, one would take the stag beetle to 

 be dreadfully carnivorous. This is not the case. On 

 the contrary, it feeds chiefly on the juices of plants, 

 which it sweeps up by a peculiar organ that may be 

 seen in the centre of the jaws. The larva of the 

 Stag beetle may be found, like a small, animated 

 tallow candle, in old wooden floors. It has even 

 then a tremendous jaw, indeed, most of the larvae of 

 beetles have powerful jaws, a feature which is shared 

 to a great extent, by the larvae of butterflies and 

 moths. The latter drop this apparatus on entering 

 the pupa state, and when they assume the full 

 imago condition, have an apparatus of quite a 

 different character, although answering piece for 

 piece with that of their earlier career. 



And now let us turn to a different group of beetles 

 the Coccinellidse, or Lady-birds, as they are better 

 known by. You cannot help observing these pretty 

 little insects, with their shiny, russet-red wing-cases 

 and flat bellies. The various species have a different 

 number of black spots on the back by which they 

 may be readily known, the commonest perhaps being 

 the Seven-spotted lady-bird (Fig. 129). Not unfre- 

 quently, these insects collect in immense swarms. 

 They are exceedingly useful to the gardener and the 

 hop grower, in destroying the still greater quantities 

 of " plant lice " (aphides) which collect so thickly on 

 fruit- and rose-trees, and on the foot-stalks of hop- 

 leaves. They deposit their eggs among the " plant- 

 lice," so that the larvae as soon as born, are in the 



