BEE 
BEET-FLY. The name of a very fniall fly 
which ufually frequents the leaves of the beet. 
BEETLE. The Englifh name for the fcara- 
b<-eus, a genus of infefts having two tranfparent 
wings, v/ith cafes which cover them clofe whiL' at 
reft, but which allow them their proper play when 
flyi-ng. Thefe infefts, like the reft of the order, 
are all produced from eggs: they then become 
grubs; aftei-vv'ards they are clianged into chryfali- 
des, in which ilate the parts of the future animals 
■are diftin£lly feen ; and, laftiy, the Beetles, leaving 
their prifons, fally forth as v/ingcd animals in full 
maturity. 
The fpecies of Beetles, properly fo called, are 
extremely numerous: all of them, however, concur 
in one common formation of having cafes to their 
wings ; which are the more neceffary for thefe in- 
fers, becaufe they often live under the furface of 
the earth in holes excavated by their own induft-ry. 
Thefe cafes guard the real wings from the various 
injuries which they might otherwife fuftain by rub- 
bing againft the fides of the abode of the Beetles; and, 
though they do not affift the infects in their flight, 
they keep their internal wings clean and fmooth; 
and from them that buzzing noife proceeds which is 
alv/ays heard vflien the animals afcend into the air. 
As in fliell-fifli, the bones of all animals of the 
Beetle kind are placed externally: and their muf- 
cles, which are all internal, are formed very much 
-like thofe of quadrupeds ; and, confldering their 
■fize, are endued with furprizing ftrength. The 
power derived from thefe mufcles is peculiarly fer- 
viceable to the lnfe6ls in digging their fubterrane- 
ous abodes, where they are moft ufually hatched, 
and to which they generally return, even after they 
have become winged infefts, and are capable of 
ranging the flcy. 
The varieties of this genus arife not only from 
a difference of fliape and colour, but alfo from 
their magnitudes ; fome Beetles being no larger 
than the head of a pin ; while others are of the fize 
of a man's fift. Their moft eflential difference, how- 
ever, proceeds from the ftages of their exiftence ; 
fome being produced in a month, and in a fingle 
feafon undergoing all their transformations ; while 
others require near four years to compleat their pro- 
duftion, and live in a winged ftate for a whole year 
after. 
Beetle, Elephant. This is the largeft fpecies 
of the Beetle kind hitherto known ; and is found 
in South America, particularly in Guiana and 
Surinam, as well as about the River Oroonoko. 
It is of a black colour ; and it's whole body is co- 
•vered with a very hard fhell, quite as thick and 
as ftrong as that of a fmall crab ; it's length, from 
the hinder part of the eyes, is almoft four inches, 
and from that to the extremity of the probofcis, or 
trunk, four inches and three quarters ; the tranf- 
verfe diameter of the body is two inches and a 
quarter; and the breadth of each elytron, or cafe 
for the wings, is an inch and three-tenths ; the 
antennfE, or feelers, are quite horny ; for which 
reafon the probofcis, or trunk, is moveable at it's 
infertion into the head, and leems to lupply the 
•place of feelers ; the horns are eiglit-tenths of an 
inch long, and termiinate in points ; the probofcis 
is an inch and a quarter long, and turns upwards, 
making a crooked line terminating in two horns, 
each of which is near a quarter of an inch long, 
but they have no perforations, like the trunks of 
other infefts. About four-tenths of an inch above 
the head, or that fide next die body, there is a pro- 
BEE 
minence, or fmall horn, which, if the reft of the 
trunk were taken away, v/ouki caufe this part to 
refemble the horn of a rhinoceros ; and the feet are 
all forked at the end. k 
Beetle, Rhinoceros. There are feveral va- 
rieties of this Ipecies ; one of which, a native of 
theEaft Indies, is of a jet-black colour, and has a 
horn on it's nofe, which turns upwards; and about 
the middle of it's belly there is another horn, which 
arifes from a tubercle, and turns inwards. The 
whole length of the body of the animal, from the 
extremity of the horn to the back-part, is four 
inches, and the breadth is almoft- two : it has alfo 
two horns behind the fnout ; and fix feet, or legs, 
forked at the ends. 
There is another Rhinoceros Beetle comm.on 
about Vienna, in GeriTiany. The horn has a ftrong 
refemblance to that of the rhinoceros, as it turns 
up, and is fharp-pointed ; it has a prominence be- 
hind the head ; and, like the former, it has fix feet. 
The whole body of this infefl, except the belly, 
which is of a deep red colour, is as black and 
fliining as pitch. 
A third and fourth variety of the Rhinoceros 
Beetles have almoft the fame fliapes; except that 
the wings of the former exceed the cafes in length, 
while in the latter they are fhorter. They appear as 
if covered overwith afliining ink; and the horns on 
their heads are full of knots : their heads are of a 
greenifh gold-colour; and dieir flioulders are red; 
but their bellies are purplifh ; and the cafes of their 
wings are of the fame colour as their heads. Their 
feet and legs are of a dun colour; and the wings 
under the cafes are whitifh. 
Beetle, Stag. This infedl: is about an inch 
long, and half an inch broad; and has two horns 
without joints, but ramified like thofe of a ftag; 
from whjch peculiarity it receives it's name. It 
is furnifhed with nippers at the extremity of the 
fnout, not much unlike the claws of lobfters, v/ith 
which it can pinch fmall objeils. The eyes are 
hard, prominent, and whitifh ; and near them, on 
both fides, there ajfe two pair of feelers. One pair of 
thefe feelers are branched, and placed between the 
horns and the eyes, having each a joint, and form- 
ing nearly a right-angle: the other pair, which 
are ftraight and flat, are placed in the centre of 
the forehead, having a tubercle at their extremities 
like the head of a nail. The animal has fix feet, of 
which the foremoft pair are longer and thicker 
than the reft. This Beetle is of a duiky- brown 
colour, or rather biackifl:i on the back, efpecially 
near the^ cafes of the wings and breafl:: and the 
horns, which are fomietimes as red as coral, give 
the animal a very Angular and beautiful appear- 
ance. It is common in Kent and Suflex; and is 
fometimes feen in ether counties of England. 
Beetle with lunated, prominent, and dentated 
jaws, and a fmooth breaft. This infed is about 
an inch long, and tv/o-thirds of an inch broad j 
the thorax is fmooth, convex, and black, without 
any prominencies, but a fort of an edge ; die cafes 
of the wings are fmooth, and of a blackilh-purple 
colour; and the jaws, which are in the form of a cre- 
fcent, are prominent and black, and liave tvvo teeth 
in each. It feeds on the decayed parts of the trunks 
of afh trees, and burrov/s in the ground under their 
roots. 
Beetle, Brass. This infe£l", which is one of 
the larger fpecies, has a fliort, broad breaft; it's 
fhape is in general difproportiona,bly broad; the 
eyes are fmall; the legs are long and flender; and 
Y die 
