LESSON XXVIII.
THE STORY OF THE STAG BEETLE.
Among the largest beetles that we have in this country are the Stag Beetles. They get this name from the size of their jaws.
If you look at the picture, you will see that the great jaws look like horns. If you should ever see the head of a stag or deer, you may notice thatthis beetle’s jaws are very like the stag’s horns in shape.
The Stag Beetles.
The Stag Beetles.
These jaws can give a very hard pinch in time of need. Still you need not be afraid of the stag beetle; he will not hurt you.
The use of these great jaws is not yet fully known. You will see that they have knobs on the inner edge.
Only Mr. Stag Beetle has these horns. Mrs. Stag Beetle has small jaws, and her head is not so wide as her shoulders. Mr. Stag Beetle has a very wide head. He needs a wide, strong head to hold up his big jaws.
If you will look at the picture of the beetle in Lesson XXII.,[15]you will see that its feelers are like a plume of six feathers. These feathers are so set that the beetle can fold them on each other into a single club, as you can fold a fan. They are called scale-feelers.
The stag beetle has also curious feelers. They are made in scales, but he cannot close them into a club. The scales are set like the teeth of a comb. He has comb-feelers. Perhaps they are of use to him in cleaning his body and legs.
These stag beetles during the day crawl about on trees. They fly by night. Their eggs are usually laid in the trunks of old oak-trees.
The larva of the stag beetle has six strong legs and a pair of strong jaws for cutting leaves and wood. The bark, wood, leaves, and roots of the oak and willow are its chief food.
This larva is very large, and lies with its body curled in a half ring. If you look at it, you will see that it has nine round spots down its side, on the rings of its body. It looks as if it wore a coat with big buttons on the side.
Now let me tell you a new wonder. These buttons are the air-holes through which this larva breathes. Come, let us hear the whole story of the insect’s breathing.
You know you draw the air in through your nose and mouth, and this air fills your lungs. You know also that the insect breathes through long, fine tubes. They are kept open with a stiff thread, and wound over all its body.
These tubes have openings for air to pass in and out. These can open and close. In shape they are a little like the lid of a glass jar. These are the holes that we see so clearly along the side of the body of this larva. Both the larva and the pupa must breathe, or they cannot live.
The larva of a stag beetle lives and grows for four or six years; then it passes into the pupa state. When it is ready to change, it makes a case for itself of the fine chips, the juice of which it has been sucking. It binds this sort of coarse sawdust together with glue from its mouth.
When the stag beetle finally comes from thispupa-case, he is a fine-looking fellow. His head and chest are black, with tiny dots like carving. His wing-cases are a deep chestnut.
There are some stag beetles that never get the large, strong horns. We do not know why this is so. Mr. Stag Beetle with the horns fights with and beats his cousins who have no horns.
Stag beetles are fond of fighting. They are like Mr. Crab in that. They have duels with each other.
Mrs. Stag Beetle does not behave in this way. She looks on at the fight, but takes no part in it. Her business is to lay eggs in safe places. She has no time to fight. And then—she has no horns!
FOOTNOTES:[15]See page75.
[15]See page75.
[15]See page75.