BEETLES 345 



The chestnut brown Rhinoceros Beetle (Oryctes nasicornis) and 

 its larva are frequently found in tanners' spent bark and the mould of 

 manure-beds. The male is distinguished from the female by a horn on 

 the head (hence the name), and a three-toothed prominence upon the 

 prothoracie shield. 



A still greater difference between the sexes is displayed in the largest 

 of our European beetles, the Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus). In their 

 antler-like mandibles the males possess formidable weapons for the 

 contests in which they fight for the females, who are much fewer in 

 number. The food of these handsome beetles consists of the juice of 

 so-called " bleeding " oaks, which they lick up with the " tongue," or 

 " lingula " (i.e., the central bilobed hairy portion of the labium ; see 

 the bee). The larvae burrow in the trunks of decaying forest trees. 



Family 2 : Ground Beetles (Carabidae). 



The Gold Beetle (Carabus auratus). 



(Length | to 1 inch.) 



This species is common everywhere on the Continent, but rarely met 

 with in England except among foreign vegetables. In order to under- 

 stand the nature of this beetle, it is only necessary to shut it up in the 

 same box with a cockchafer, a caterpillar, a slug, an earth-worm, or any 

 other of the smaller invertebrates ; we shall soon discover that we are 

 dealing with a predatory animal. The gold beetle, accordingly, is a rapid, 

 nimble creature, which pursues its prey running. Eapidly the long, 

 slender, and very movable legs convey the flat, elongated body over 

 the ground. Wings are absent; indeed, the swift-footed insect does 

 not need them. The wing-covers (elytra), however, are present, being 

 required for the protection of the soft dorsal surface of the abdomen. 

 The strong, sickle-shaped mandibles (see illustration, p. 341) are used 

 both as weapons of destruction and as cutting instruments. This beetle 

 pursues its prey in the daytime, and its colour, therefore (unlike that 

 of most of its relatives, which are nocturnal in habit, and therefore 

 dark-coloured), is a brilliant green, which does not render the insect 

 conspicuous among the tangle of plants. The surface of the body, how- 

 ever, which is turned towards the ground is black. When the beetle is 

 attacked by an enemy, such as a song-bird or reptile, it emits a brown, 

 acrid, evil-smelling juice from near the anus, which in all probability 

 either " spoils the assailant's appetite," or at any rate causes it to hesitate 

 for a moment, during which interval the beetle manages to reach a safe 



