Lucanid^s 
INSECTS. Lucan us. 219 
projections on the head and thorax, as in the great 
Hercules heetle and the even more extraordinary 
Asserador Hewitsoni (see fig. 95). The females are 
small and without any projections. 
In Europe Oryctes nasicm-nis is a common insect, 
found in the larva state in tan-pits and dung-heaps It 
continues four or five years in that state. In this 
country we have no member of this family. 
In Brazil and the East Indies the Dynastidse attain 
enormous size ; for instance, that gigantic Elepliant 
beetle called Megasoma elephas, is some inches long, 
and wide in proportion. It is found in Venezuela and 
Columbia. The Megasoma Actceon, or Actseon beetle,* 
is another large species common in Brazil and Guiana. 
In some of the West Indian Islands the long-horned 
Hercules beetle {Dynastes Hercules) is not uncom- 
mon. It has been also named the Ehinoceros 
beetle in some popular books. In the males the 
thorax projects in front into a long curved horn, 
which extends far beyond the head, and has a 
strong tooth-like projection on the under side, 
fringed with a brush of brownish-yellow hairs. 
The head has a long horn also, shorter by far 
than that on the thorax, but bending up towards 
it and toothed on the upper side. The uses of 
these processes to the insect are unknown. 
Oryctes Maimon is a species indigenous to the 
United States. It is of a deep blackish chestnut 
hue, and is highly polished. The thorax in the 
male is armed with three horns, one in front and 
one on each side. Mr. Gosse in one of his letters 
from Alabama, gives an instance of its great 
strength of body. He says, “ When the insect 
was brought to me, having no box immediately 
at hand, I was at a loss where to put it until 
I could kill it ; but a quart bottle full of milk 
being on the table, I clapped the beetle for the 
present under that, the hollow at the bottom 
allowing him room to stand upright. Presently, 
to my surprise, the bottle began slowly to move 
and glide along the smooth table, propelled by 
the muscular power of the imprisoned insect, and 
continued for some time to perambulate the sur- 
face, to the astonishment of all who witnessed it. 
The weight of the bottle and its contents could 
not have been less than three pounds and a half ; 
while that of the beetle was about half an ounce, 
so that it readily moved a weight one hundred 
and twelve times exceeding its own.”’}' To give 
a better notion than figures can convey, Mr. 
Gosse supposes a lad of fifteen imprisoned under 
the great bell of Saint Paul’s, which weighs twelve 
thousand pounds, and moving it on a smooth 
pavement bj' pushing within. 
Family — LUCANID.® {Stag-deetles). 
Many of the Beetles of this family are of large size. 
The males have often very large jaws furnished witli 
snags, like a stag ; hence their English name. 
* Act®on was turned into a stag for looking at Diana ; the 
horns began to bud from the head. 
t Letters from Alabama, p. 1G7. 
On Plate 1 there are three species represented, the 
male sex being selected on account of the charactei'istic 
mandibles Fig. 7 shows the Chiasognathus Grantii 
— a fine South American beetle. The late amiable 
James Francis Stephens first described this curious 
beetle. It is a native of the island of Chiloe, where it 
appears to be not common. Its eyes are each divided 
by a ridge of the head, so that there seem to be four ; 
hence a French naturalist named it Tetraophthalmus. 
Fig. 9 represents our Stag-beetle [Lucanus Cervus) 
common in the counties of Surrey and Kent, &c. The 
females seem scarcer than the males. Fig. 10 repre- 
sents Cladognathus Parryi, a species very common in 
Silhet. In the Lucanidse the antenna? are geniculate 
or elbowed, the first joint being long and the other ten 
shorter, the club having the four, five, or six last joints 
produced inside, so as to have a pectinated appearance. 
The tibia? are generally toothed or spined, these teeth 
helping them greatly in climbing. 
It is in the evening that the Stag-beetles fly, although 
the Lamprimce, metallic green and purple Australian 
Fig. 96. 
Lucanus dux 
