214 INJURIOUS AND USEFUL INSECTS 



Sub-order I. — Lamellicornia (lamellicorn beetles) 



Tarsus five-jointed in all the legs. Last joints of antenna 

 usually enlarged on one side, forming a club of movable leaves. 



Family Lucanidee (stag-beetles). Last joints of antenna 

 merely enlarged, not flattened. 



The stag-beetle is the largest British beetle. The male is 

 remarkable for its large and very variable mandibles. 



Family Scarabseidse (chafers). Last joints of antenna 

 flattened. 



1. Sub-family Coprinae (dung-chafers). Everybody knows 

 the dor-beetle or dumbledor, the " shard-borne beetle " of 

 Shakespeare, the " drowsy beetle " of Gray's Elegy. It may 

 often be seen creeping among the grass in a pasture, or flying 

 in a heavy, blundering fashion on a fine evening in summer 

 or autumn. Most of us have held this beetle in our hands, 

 and have noticed the yellow fleas which run about its body 

 (they are not really fleas, however, but mites). The female 

 digs a burrow beneath a patch of cow-dung, some of which 

 she carries down into the earth, and lays on it a single egg. 

 The larva subsists on this food, and pupates underground. 



2. Sub -family Melolonthinse (leaf -chafers). The cock- 

 chafer (Lesson 5) is placed in this sub-family. 



3. Sub-family Cetoninae (rose-chafers). 



Sub-order II. — Adephaga (predatory beetles) 



Tarsus five-jointed in all the legs. Antennae slender and 

 tapering. Jaws piercing, pointed and toothed. The larva is 

 usually long-legged and very active. 



Family Cicindelidae (tiger-beetles). Differ from Carabidae 

 only in small details of structure. 



We may often find in sandy fields, or in waste places where 

 the soil is dry and loose, the bright-coloured and vivacious 

 tiger-beetle {Cicindela campestris). It flies swiftly in the sun- 

 shine, soon alighting, but taking flight again whenever we 

 attempt to draw near. The beetle is of no great size (14-15 mm. 

 long), but conspicuous by its activity in running or flying, and 

 by its bright coloration. The body is of a rich green above, 

 and marked on the elytra, or wing-covers, by white or 

 yellowish spots, usually five or six on each side ; the margins 



