388 DE. F. LEUTHNEB ON THE ODONTOLABINI. 



them. However, they are most interesting to those observers who do not confine 

 themselves to mere names, as they furnish a clue to the mystery of the Origin of 

 Species. What do they teach usi How far are they connected, and why should 

 they be distinguished from closely allied forms'? These and similar inquiries force 

 themselves upon the attention, and can only be answered by the examination of as 

 large a series of specimens as possible, in order that every variation from a type may be 

 noted, and the transitions between one form and another investigated. By this method 

 we are often enabled to connect incredibly diiferent forms by an unbroken series of 

 intermediate links, while morphologists may succeed in unravelling the secrets of the 

 origin of markings, alterations of colour i, form, sculpture, &c., though frequently not 

 without great labour and difficulty. 



Several zoologists have already begun to classify and arrange their collections accord- 

 ing to this method. My highly esteemed friend and instructor in entomology, Brunner 

 von Wattenwyl, has been engaged for many years in the formation of a collection of 

 Oiihoptera which is unique of its kind. He has collected together as large a series as 

 possible of different species, in different stages, and from various localities, in order to 

 acquaint himself with their geographical distribution, as well as with the influence of 

 climate upon them. This enables a student to perceive at a glance the various disguises 

 assumed by a species under changed conditions of climate &c., as well as many points 

 which would otherwise elude the observation of even the most careful investigator. 

 Naturalists will at once perceive the great scientific importance of a collection formed 

 on such a system. 



(1) Variability of the Lucanidce in general, tvith special reference to the Odontolabini. 

 There is perhaps no group of insects which vary to so great an extent as the 

 Lamellicornia, and move especially the Lucanidse. The variations within the limits 

 of a single species are often so great that a small male is structurally different from a 

 large male. It is therefore not surprising that differently formed males of the same 

 species were described as distinct by the older authors. Later and more accurate 

 observers discovered this, and Burmeister showed that a completely unbroken series 

 often exists between the largest and smallest males, the latter of which are remarkably 

 similar to the females. Darwin employed this discovery in a very skilful manner to 

 elucidate his theory of Natural Selection. Since then these series have become 

 extremely interesting, and any one who wishes to study the most remarkable variations 

 which may occur in one and the same species, with the object of discovering the laws 

 by which nature has modified individuals, should select the plastic group of the 

 Lucanoid Coleoptera for his investigations. But he will soon begin to despair of 

 arriving at definite systematic results, in this chaos of uncertain forms, in spite of the 

 enormous amount of material which we now possess, but which, notwithstanding, is 

 wholly insufficient for such an investigation. I myself worked for several months at 

 ' Comp. A. G. Butler, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, vol. si. (1883) p. 427. 



