THE STAG BEETLE. 529 
They feed mostly upon the roots of grasses and other plants, 2nd when in 
great numbers have been known to ruin an entire harvest. ‘To ‘arf they are 
especially destructive, shearing away the roots with their scissor-like jaws 
and killing the vegetation effectually. For three years the future insect 
continues in its larval state ; and after a brief sojourn in the pupa: vouaiucu. 
changes its skin for the last time, and emerges from the ground a perfect 
Cockchafer. Even in its perfect state it is a terribly destructive insect 
working sad havoc among the foliage of trees. ‘ 
The STaG BEETLE is the largest of our British Coleoptera, and when it 
has attained its full dimensions is an extremely powerful and rather formidable 
ins€ct, its enormous mandibles being able to inflict a very painful bite, not 
STAG BEETLE.—(Lucanus cervus.) 
only on account of the powerful muscles by which they are moved, but in 
consequence of the antler-like projections with which their tips are armed 
These horn-like jaws only belong to the male, those of the female being 
simply sharp and curved mandibles, in no way conspicuous. 
The larve of the Stag Beetle reside in trees, into which they burrow with 
marvellous facility, and as after they have emerged from their holes they 
appear to cling to the familiar neighbourhood, they may be found upon or 
near the trees in which they have been bred. 
From the formidable shape of the mandibles it might be supposed that 
the Stag Beetle was one of the predaceous species. ‘This, however, is not 
the case, the food of this fine insect consisting mostly, if not wholly, of the 
juices of vegetables, which it wounds with the jaws so as to cause the sap to 
flow. It is true that specimens have been detected in the act of assaulting 
other insects, but thev never seem to have been observed in the act of feeding 
upon their victim. Whether the food be of animal or vegetable nature, it is 
always liquid, andis lapped, or swept up, by a kind of brush which forms 
part of the mouth, and looks like a double pencil of shining orange-coloured 
hairs. 
PASSING by one or two families of more or less importance, we arrive at 
the Buprestide, a family of beetles remarkable for the extraordinary gor- 
geousness of their tints, almost every imaginable hue being found upon these 
brilliant insects. 
They are found in many portions of the globe, but, as is generally the case 
with insects, their colours take the greatest intensity within the tropics. They 
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