196 



AA^ ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



The next large series is the La^nellicornia, where the antennae 

 terminate in a lemellate or leaf- shaped club. All the species are 

 feeders upon vegetation, living or dead, green or in a stage of 

 decay, and in all cases the larv^ae are ' ' white grubs, ' ' large or 

 small, smooth or hairy, but always " white grubs." These can 

 be generally described as having a large, yellow, or brown head, 

 with prominent mandibles and long palpi, legs that are quite long, 

 moderately stout, with distinct claws at the tip, usually also 



Fig. 184. 



Stag-beetles. — i, Lucanus elapJms, male; 2, L. dama, male. 



clothed with hair, a body that is cylindrical, stout, wrinkled, 

 somewhat curved or even crescent-shaped, ending rather abruptly 

 in a more or less enlarged, obtuse, terminal bulb. As a rule, 

 the color is dirty yellowish white, but it may become pink, 

 greenish, or even blackish, the hinder portion always showing 

 darker because of the excrementitious mass which shows through 

 the transparent tissue. 



Two families belong to this series, of which the Luca7iidce^ or 

 stag-beetles, are of no economic importance though of much 



