“Ere to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle, with its drowsy hum,
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.”
This beetle, which is a British insect, lays its eggs in a mass of cow-dung, which it afterwards buries in the earth. It makes a dull drowsy noise when it flies, and often strikes itself against any person or object it may meet, as though it were blind. It has also the habit of stretching out its limbs and pretending to be dead when caught.
THE STAG BEETLE. (Lucanus cervus.)
“See the proud giant of the beetle race;
What shining arms his polished limbs encase!
Like some stern warrior, formidably bright,
His steely sides reflect a gleamy light;
On his large forehead spreading horns he wears,
And high in air the branching antlers bears;
O’er many an inch extends his wide domain,
And his rich treasury swells with hoarded grain.”
Barbauld.
This insect is the largest, and most singular in shape, of any in this country. It is known by two horn-like mandibles, projecting from its head, and resembling those of a stag, with which it is able to pinch very severely. These mandibles are strongly dentated from the root to the point. The wing-cases have neither streaks nor spots. The whole insect is of a deep brown. It is sometimes found in hollow oaks and beeches, near London.