800 



inVEBTEBBAIES. 



The Ilerculos Beetle. 



The Stag Beetle is nearly three inches in length. It is 

 of a dark-brown color, except the jaws, which are sometimes as 

 red as coral, and which adds very much to its beauty. These 

 resemble the horns of a stag, by which it is easily distinguished 

 from other species, and on account of which it receives its name. 

 This insect is called by the French, " le grand cerf-volant." 



The antennas of this species are club-shaped in the extre- 

 mity divided into short comb-like leaves; the jaws are provided 

 with teeth, and project so far beyond the head as to resemble 

 horns, and thus give the animal somewhat of the resemblance of a 

 stag ;" the two feelers, which are under the lip, are so thickly co- 

 vered with hair, as to. appear like tufts. 



The usual residence and the favorite haunts of this species, 

 the king, or rather giant of British insects, are hollow places in 

 rotten and half-decayed wood, and under the bark of trees. In 

 the south of England these insects are often found in oak and 



