484 



Marvels of the Universe 



TKe horns on the 

 but they are also of 

 sucks the sap. 



THE 

 ad of thi 

 in tearing 



GOLIATH BEETLE. 



male 



th< 



Beetle 

 barU 



are said to be weapons for figbting its adversaries, 

 of certain species of vine from ^vbicb the insect 



in their throats, there to remain till they develop into fully-formed frogs, 

 ments of the far-famed Surinam Toad will form the subject of a special notice. 



the trees in which 

 they dwell ; so that 

 the tadpoles may un- 

 dergo their develop- 

 ment either in little 

 pools or in masses of 

 froth like that of our 

 well-known " cuckoo- 

 spit " insect. 



Stranger stiU is the 

 development of the so- 

 called marsupial frogs 

 of South America, the 

 females of which have 

 a long pouch in the 

 hind part of the back, 

 wherein the fifteen or 

 sixteen eggs are placed 

 by the male, there to 

 hatch and produce 

 tadpoles which under- 

 go the usual course of 

 development. Even 

 this is surpassed in the 

 case of Darwin's frog 

 of Chile, the males of 

 which take the eggs 

 into a special chamber 

 The nursery arrange- 



THE WORLD'S LARGEST BEETLE 



BY JOHN J. WARD, F.E.S. 



Amongst land animals greatness in bulk has not proved a success. Many huge extinct animals 

 are now represented by quite diminutive forms. Indeed, development to a large size is, as it were, 

 a blind alley which leads nowhere. As a consequence, insects, which have always remained small, 

 have become the most abundant of living land animals, their species outnumbering those of all 

 other groups put together. The Goliath Beetle is not only the largest among living beetles, but 

 possibly the giant of all insect life — past and present. 



The full-fed grub constructs an oval-shaped cocoon of mud, with very thin walls, which are 

 strengthened round the central part by a thickened belt. This cocoon varies in size according to 

 the amount of food consumed by the individual, and some are as large as a swan's egg. 



In habits the Goliath Beetle is very like our Rose Chafer, and especially so during its flight, 

 for it does not extend its horny wing-covers at the same time as its membranous wings. They are 

 only momentarily raised to allow the flying wings to project from the sides, but are not separated. 



While our Rose Beetles feed largely on the nectar of flowers, the chief support of the Goliath 

 Beetle is the thick juicy sap of some species of vines, which the male obtains by wounding the bark 

 with the horns on the front of hisTread, and which he works at very persistently, the female coming 



