Rev. F. W. Hope on some Nondescript Insects from Assam. 593 



A very remarkable Lucanus, obtained at Fernando Po by the gallant Cap- 

 tain Downes, and named after him in the Zoological Transactions, has all its 

 tibiae spineless. In Lucanus Forsteri the posterior tibiae are unarmed, whilst 

 the intermediate have one toothlike spine. In my Lucanus pallldipennis and 

 in the L. castaneus of the French cabinets the four posterior tibiae are unarmed. 

 In Lucanus nepalensis, Spencii, hulbosus and astacoides (insects all differing 

 considerably in form), the four posterior tibiae are unidentate ; and various 

 other instances of the presence or absence of spines might be added : but 

 as I think, in the instances above quoted, sufficient proof has been adduced 

 of the variableness of tibial armature, a characteristic hitherto almost en- 

 tirely neglected by entomologists, I pass on at present, hoping to enter 

 more fully on these points when I publish my synopsis of the species of Lu- 

 canoidea. 



It only remains to be added, that tropical India appears to be the metro- 

 polis of the Lucanidce, more than fifty species from those regions having fallen 

 under my inspection. The damage arising from the Stag-beetles even in 

 Europe is often very considerable, as they perforate the solid wood in all 

 directions, and in the East Indies the destruction occasioned by them must 

 be much greater ; but I am not aware of any instances on record of the injury 

 there sustained from their attacks. The increase of species in the East is great, 

 and the number of individuals of each species is oftentimes very surprising. 

 It may here also be remarked, that the armature of most of the Indian spe- 

 cies is strongly developed, and there can be little doubt that, as they are thus 

 amply provided, it was wisely intended for the performance of those functions 

 which are allotted to them ; one of which, perhaps, is to keep in check the 

 exuberant luxuriance of tropical vegetation. The Lucuni of an Indian forest 

 may be called the pioneers of its destruction: the rains during the mon- 

 soon enter the holes and excavations which they have made in the teak and 

 other hard woods, and soon produce decay in the heart of the tree, when the 

 white ants and other insects follow in their track, so that in a short time the 

 proudest trees in the forest crumble into dust and disappear. It may here be 

 added, before concluding these remarks, that the larvae of the Stag-beetles are 

 supposed by some authors, under the name of Cossus, to have afforded a de- 

 licious repast to the Roman epicure; and it seems not improbable that this 



