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The Descent of Man

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Malay Archipelago,' vol. ii. 1869, p. 276. Riley,<br />

Sixth 'Report on Insects <strong>of</strong> Missouri,' 1874, p.<br />

115.) saw two males <strong>of</strong> Leptorhynchus angustatus,<br />

a linear beetle with a much elongated rostrum,<br />

"fighting for a female, who stood close by<br />

busy at her boring. <strong>The</strong>y pushed at each other<br />

with their rostra, and clawed and thumped,<br />

apparently in the greatest rage." <strong>The</strong> smaller<br />

male, however, "soon ran away, acknowledging<br />

himself vanquished." In some few cases<br />

male beetles are well adapted for fighting, by<br />

possessing great toothed mandibles, much larger<br />

than those <strong>of</strong> the females. This is the case<br />

with the common stag-beetle (Lucanus cervus),<br />

the males <strong>of</strong> which emerge from the pupal state<br />

about a week before the other sex, so that several<br />

may <strong>of</strong>ten be seen pursuing the same female.<br />

At this season they engage in fierce conflicts.<br />

When Mr. A.H. Davis (69. 'Entomological Magazine,'<br />

vol. i. 1833, p. 82. See also on the conflicts<br />

<strong>of</strong> this species, Kirby and Spence, ibid.<br />

vol. iii. p. 314; and Westwood, ibid. vol. i. p.

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