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Updated: June 28, 2025
Thus, in the case of the stag-beetle, the purpose consists in the leaving space for the growth of the horns; the means, in the digging the hole of a sufficient size; and the unconscious knowledge, in prescience concerning the future development of the horns. Lastly, all instinctive actions give us an impression of absolute security and infallibility.
I knew that here was a faithful friend who would protect me against robbers. The first time that I saw a stag-beetle, I was so overcome by the beauty of its horns that the longing to possess one became an actual torment. The passion for plants did not develop until later, about the age of nine years, and I did not really begin to understand their life until about the age of fifteen.
"You will find me to-morrow, sir." "This very moment," Nathan answered. "Come, come, you pair of fire-eaters!" "You are another!" said the prime mover in the quarrel. "Ah, I can't stand upright, perhaps?" asked the pugnacious Nathan, straightening himself up like a stag-beetle about to fly.
None of our insects equals him in strength of jaw, if we except the Stag-beetle, who is far better armed, or rather decorated, for the antlered mandibles of the inmate of the oak are ornaments of the male's attire, not a panoply of battle. The brutal Carabid, the eviscerator of the Pimeliæ, knows how strong he is. If I tease him a little on the table, he at once adopts a posture of defence.
I set my ratchet scales against the sides, and nothing can dislodge me. Only a jerk is dangerous, and that must be accomplished before I am fairly fixed." "I am armour-clad," said the stag-beetle. "Could there be better method of defence? Look at the sliding joints of my breastplate. Human skill has copied it, but never has surpassed it. My horns look formidable, but for offence are useless.
Among my insects the best were the rare Pieris arum, of a rich chrome yellow colour, with a black border and remarkable white antenna perhaps the very finest butterfly of the genus; and a large black wasp-like insect, with immense jaws like a stag-beetle, which has been named Megachile Pluto by Mr. B. Smith.
Now it was a great stag-beetle that was caught a great horny-headed and horny-bodied fellow, so strong that he could force his way out of a closed hand by sheer pushing, like his friend the cockchafer, who now began to whirr and drone about under the shady boughs of the trees, but who would not come near enough to be captured, till at last one of them came bump up against Mr Inglis's hat, in its headlong flight, when Fred picked it out of the grass where it had fallen, and was astonished at the slow but strenuous efforts the insect made to escape.
At last, time slipped by and no Harry made his appearance, while plenty of indications showed that evening was fast closing in: moths began to flutter about the different leaves; every now and then, too, came the low evening drowsy hum of the cockchafer, while Fred gave a regular jump when a gigantic stag-beetle stuck him right in the cheek and then fell crawling about in his lap.
In June in the Forest the rather alarming stag-beetle is to be seen on the wing on a warm evening; though really harmless, its size and habit of buzzing round frightens people who are not acquainted with its ways. They are called locally, "pinch-bucks," as their horns resemble the antlers of a buck, and they can nip quite hard by pressing them together.
'Cerf-volant, a name which the French have so happily given to the horned scarabeus, the same which we somewhat less poetically call the 'stag-beetle, is another example of what may be effected with the old materials, by merely bringing them into new and happy combinations. You know the appearance of the lizard, and the star-like shape of the spots which are sown over its back.
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