22 



suddenly into the air, and, while moving, turning its body, thus recovering its natural 

 position ; this unusual movement, together with its curious, prominent eye-like spots, 

 combine to make it a constant source of wonder and interest. Since it feeds only on. 

 decaying svood, it scarcely deserves to be classed with destructive insects. 



The Stag Beetle (Lucanus dama). 



This is another very common beetle, somewhat similar in its habits to the eyed\ 

 Elater, but very different in appearance. It is a large and powerful insect belonging tO' 

 the family called Lamellicornes, or leaf-horned beetles, from the leaf-like joints composing; 

 their antennje. In the male, fig. 9, the upper jaws or mandibles 

 are largely developed, curved like a sickle, and furnished inter- 

 nally beyond the middle with a small tooth ; those of the 

 female are much shorter and also toothed. The body measures 

 from an inch to. an inch and a quarter in length, exclusive of 

 the jaws, and is of a dull mahogany-brown colour. The head 

 of the male is broad and smooth ; that of the female narrow 

 and roughened with punctures. The insect appears during the 

 months of J uly and August ; is very vigorous on the wing, 

 flying with a loud buzzing sound during the evening, when it 

 frequently enters houses to the alarm of nervous occupants. 

 It is perhaps scarcely necessary to remark that it is not in any 

 way venomous, and it never attempts to bite without provoca- 

 tion. 



The female lays her eggs in the crevices of the bark of ^'ig- ^^ 



trees, especially near the roots. The larvse live in decaying wood, and are found in the 

 trunks and roots of various kinds of trees, particularly those of old apple trees ; they are' 

 also found in old cherry trees, willows, and oaks. They are said to be six years in com- 

 pleting their growth, living all the time on the wood of the tree, reducing it to a coarse 

 powder resembling sawdust. The mature larva is a large, thick, nearly cylindrical 

 whitish worm, with a horny-looking head of a reddish-brown colour, dark mandibles, 

 and reddish legs. The body is curved when at rest, the hinder segments being brought 

 towards the head. 



When the larva has attained full size it remains in its burrow and encloses itself in 

 an oval cocoon formed of fragments of wood and bark, cemented together with a glue- 

 like secretion, and within this enclosure it is transformed to a chrysalis of a yellowish- 

 white colour. Through the partially transparent membrane the limbs of the future' 

 beetle are dimly seen, and in due time the beetle bursts its filmy enclosure and emerges 

 to the light of day. 



As this insect afiects only old and decaying trees, it seldom does much harm. ''"The 

 use of alkaline washes, applied to the bark of the trees in July, would probably deter 

 these beetles, in common with others, from depositing their eggs on the trees thus coated, 

 and any mischief they might otherwise do be in this manner prevented. 



SOME FUNGI-EATEKS. 



By W. Hague Harrington, Ottawa, Ont. 



It is related by a celebrated traveller and naturalist that, in the dreary islands of 

 Terra del Fuego, the only vegetable food to be obtained by the wretched inhabitants, 

 with the exception of a few berries, is a fungus w-hich grows in great abundance on 

 certain trees. This fungus appears on the bark in the shape of bright yellow, globular 

 masses of the size of small apples, and at a certain stage of development is gathered and- 

 eaten uncooked. Other savage tribes inhabiting barren territories may be partially 

 dependent on similar substitutes for the nutritious roots and succulent fruits used by 

 more favourably located races ; but civilized man, with his long list of food plants to 

 choose from, considers fungi more as luxuries than as essential articles of diet. 



