282 
TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
use of these great mandibles, the growth and size of which differ in 
the individuals of the same species. The female beetles do not 
have these large mandibles, and the structures are of ordinary 
proportions in them, being furnished with teeth which enable 
them to be used as leaf-cutters. The Lucanidce are found in 
many parts of the world, but their species are most abundant in 
the East Indies, the islands of the Straits of Sunda, and the 
Moluccas, whence they are occasionally imported into Europe. 
These insects, which inhabit woods, and only fly in the evening, 
are difficult to collect in those countries where no one cares to 
spend a night in the middle of forests ; so that these Coleoptera , 
which are very beautiful, and whose shapes are very remarkable, 
are much prized by collectors. 
The genus Lucanus has been greatly subdivided, but it is not 
necessary to describe it, because the type of it is so well known 
under the form of the Great Stag Beetle, Lucanus cervus , our 
largest beetle. When in the larval condition it lives in the trunks 
of old decaying oaks, and it is very common in some districts. 
The beetles fly in the hot evenings of the summer months, and 
their large mandibles render them very visible. The accom- 
panying engraving of the metamorphoses of the stag beetle re- 
presents a large male upon the trunk of a tree ; the mandibles 
are separated, and their dentations are very visible. On the right 
hand a female beetle is upon a leaf, and her small mandibles 
make her look like another species, especially as the head is so 
much narrower than that of the male. Low down in the picture, 
on the left hand side, there is a nymph in a sort of cocoon hol- 
lowed out of the wood. It is a male, and the future mandibles 
can readily be seen. It is something like the perfect insect, and 
at the same time resembles the larva. The larva is figured to 
the right, and its sharp, trenchant jaws are strikingly suited for 
their purpose. The development of the fore legs is worthy of 
notice, and so is that of the spiracles which are so very visible 
on the sides of the body. It is said that these insects are six 
years in coming to their full growth. Some very natural affini- 
ties connect the Lucanidce with the Histeridce , which are short 
insects, with broad bodies and antennae ended by a little solid 
club-shaped mass ; their nervous system is rather less centralised 
