72 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 



Fig. 75 



LuCANID.K. 



Platycerus quercus, Web. This beetle and the two following belong to the stag- 

 beetle family, in the males of which the mandibles, or jaws, are sometimes won- 

 derfully developed. In this species they are as long as the head and turned up 

 and irregularly toothed at the point (Fig. 75.) The beetle is about half an inch 

 long, rather flattened, bronzy black in colour, shiny and feebly punctured. The 

 female is lighter in colour, being nearly brown above ; the legs and under surface 

 reddish. The larva? like those of the following species live in decaying wood of 

 various trees. 



15. Platycerus depressus. Lee. This species differs from the foregoing in being 

 slightly larger, blacker and with the elytra more coarsely striate and punctured. The 

 mandibles are shorter and stouter. 



16. Ceruchus piceus, Web. This is a very common insect in old beech logs and stumps. 

 It is much more stoutly built, and is very variable in size ; from two-fifths to three-fifths 

 of an inch long, the males being much larger than the females. The head is large, as 

 wide as the thorax, and with a deep frontal depression. The jaws of the male are as long 

 as the head, and with a strong inner tooth about the middle. 



SCARAB.EIDJ3. 



17. Dichclonycha elongala, Fab. — A rather cylindrical beetle; four-tenths of an inch 

 long ; the general colour testaceous or yellowish ; head flattened above ; thorax more or 

 less pubescent ; wing covers with a greenish reflection, more pronounced in the males ; 

 under surface hoary, with scale-like hairs ; tips of hinder legs sometimes blackish. This 

 beetle and two or three closely allied species difficult to separate from it, feed in the per- 

 fect state, on a variety of trees. They much resemble in size and general appearance the 

 Hose beetle, Macrodactylus subspinosus, Fab., which belongs to the same family but is, 

 however, sncaller and less corpulent. I have found them not infrequent on beech. 



18r Osmoderma scabra, Beauv. — This is a large stout beetle (Fig. 

 76) of a dark bronze, or metallic- brownish colour. Its length is nearly 

 an inch, and it is about half as wide (across the elytra). The head is 

 email, squarish and depressed above ; the thorax rounded and irregu- 

 larly punctured ; the elytra irregularly wrinkled and striated. When 

 alive this beetle diffuses a strong odour, which much resembles that 

 given off by Russian leather. The larvae feed in the decaying wood of 

 old trees, and are fat white grubs much like those of the May-beetles. 

 They construct large oblong cocoons from the particles of decayed wood, 

 in which the grub pupates and finally becomes a beetle. It is probable 

 that the closely allied species 0. eremicola, Knoch., also breeds in old 

 beech cavities. 



Fig. 76. 



Spondylid^e. 



19. Parandra brunnea, Fab. — The shape of this beetle and its large mandibles give 

 it a great resemblance to some members of the Lucanidce (Stag-beetle family), but it is at 

 once distinguished by having the antennae straight, and tapering to the tip, instead of ter- 

 minating in a leafed club. It is variable in size, from five-tenths to eight-tenths of an 

 inch in length, and of an almost uniform reddish or yellowish brown colour. The grubs 

 live in the wood of stumps and old trunks of various trees, the beetles being found under 

 the loose bark, although they are seldom numerous. 



Cerambtcid^e. 



20. Smodicum cuevjiforme, Say. — This beetle I have not seen, but it is one of the 

 smaller species of the longicorns, being only three-tenths of an inch long. The following 

 is part of the original description of the species : " Body depressed ; head with a slight 



