STAG-BEETLES. 
77 
Lamellicornes. Antennas not elbowed, tbe club composed of moveable 
plates. Mandibles of the males not remarkably developed. Nervous 
ganglia consolidated in tbe thorax. Larvae with transverse wrinkles 
upon the segments. Anal opening crosswise, except in the sub family 
of Passalides. 
We have the more readily adopted this separate classification of these 
insects as it enables us to discard the discordant element of Lucan id;e 
from the otherwise comparatively homogeneous group of lamellicorn 
beetles, with neither of the two great tribes of which can they be made 
to harmonize. 
Family XXV. LUCANIDzE. 
[Fig. 31. | 
(Fig. 32.] 
lucanus dama, Kate. after Packard, recognition. Notwithstanding their 
conspicuous size, but little is known of the habits of the perfect insects. 
The tew observations on record go to show that their ordinary food con- 
sists of honey dew, or the exudations of the leaves and bark of trees, 
which last they arc said to pierce with their pincer-like mandibles, but the 
force with which these orgaus are brought together does not seem to be 
sufficient for this purpose. They have been known to feed readily, in con- 
finement, upon moistened sugar. The larvae are found in rotton wood, and 
some of them have been known to bore into the solid roots of trees. But 
in this country they have never been known to be seriously injurious. 
A. Ligula elongated and attached to the anterior face of the mentum ; antenna 
usually elbowed; first joiut nearly or quite as long as all the others united ; 
abdomen moderately pedunculated; scutellum normal and distinct. 
B. Body moderately convex ; head unarmed, and in the males nearly or quite as 
wide as the thorax; club of antonme 4-jointed with the first joint small. 
C. Antennas geniculate or elbowed ; anterior coxa: approximate. 
D. Mandibles pointed ; eyes notched by the margin of the head. 
E. Elytra smooth, slightly curved at the sides; size very large. . .Lucanus. 
E E. Elytra striate and punctate; sides parallel; size above medium. 
Doitcus. 
D D. Mandibles thickened, obtuse, and many toothed at the end ; eyes scarcely 
notched; size medium 
Platyckhus . 
