250 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
relieved by stripes of yellow); its wings are marked with two orange-colored bands. 
It flies or runs with rapidity and ease, and is offensive mainly from its office as 
a scavenger. It does its damage by cutting the roots which may intercept its 
path. Its front feet are used like those of the mole, and are equally skilful 
and efficient. It ingeniously burrows beneath its prey, and thus causes it to 
bury itself, in which the eggs are then deposited. The buried body is thus 
made to serve the double purpose of furnishing a receptacle which promotes 
development of the eggs, and also provides sustenance to the larvae as soon as 
they issue from the envelope. 
The Stag Beetle (Lucamis cerous), or Corn-Bug, is a European species; it is 
there commonly called the cockchafer. It flies heavily, with a whirr like that of 
a pheasant. It has a familiar representative in the American tumble-bug, 
especially the larger species, which 
is similarly provided with a horn on 
the snout. The stag beetle's antennae 
bear a striking resemblance to the 
horns of the deer. It burrows into 
trees to deposit its larvae. 
The Rhinoceros Beetle, a curious 
creature, is so named from its hav¬ 
ing a long and back-curving horn on 
the snout, which bears a striking re¬ 
semblance to the nasal weapon of the 
rhinoceros. To this class also belongs 
the hercules bug , a very large crea¬ 
ture, and probably the greatest of all 
the insect family. To its immense 
size, sometimes exceeding three inches, 
is added a formidable appearance, 
though it is dangerous only by rea¬ 
son of its power to inspire fright, 
since it has no ability to do any 
considerable harm beyond a slight 
pinch, equal to that of a small crab. 
The Magnificent Pine Beetle (Bu- 
prestis marianna ) cannot move when laid upon its back. It girdles trees, for 
which the beautiful coloring of the many species (green, copper, bronze, for 
example), is not a sufficient compensation. This insect is called magnificent, 
not. only because of its brilliant wing sheathes, but also on account of its 
graceful appearance, whether at rest or in flight. It is found in many parts 
of the United States, and its presence is easily discovered by the marks of its 
ravages, or rather the ravages of its larvae, for the adult beetle is not known 
to commit such depredations itself. The eggs are deposited in a rift, or 
beneath the bark of a tree, and there left to nature to hatch. Directly after 
the young appear they begin eating the inner bark, and continue their feasting 
in tortuous courses, and often circular, apparently taking care not to show 
themselves, being a wood-worm, until they emerge into a perfect beetle. A 
tree thus girdled rarely shows any outward effects of the damage so done until 
the following year, when the buds put out slowly and the tree gradually dies. 
30. ring-tailed gallinipper ( Culex annulatus ). 10. 
rhinoceros-bug ( Oryctes tiasicomes). 35. cater¬ 
pillar fly ( Tachina fera). 37. cattle-fly {Oes¬ 
trus bovis). 22 flour beetle and larvae (Tene- 
brio molitor). 
