Loxsoma
(from loxos, oblique, and soma, a body; the sporangia are girt by an incomplete ring). ORD. Filices. A monotypic genus, the species being a remarkable and rare greenhouse fern. For culture, see Ferns. L. Cunninghami (Cunningham's). cau. long, stout, creeping. fronds long-stipitate, coriaceous, decompound, glaucous beneath, 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. high. sori marginal, in the sinus of the teeth or lobes, terminating a vein, declined; involucre sub-urceolate, coriaceous, the mouth truncated, entire; receptacle elongated, much exserted, clothed to the apex with stipitate capsules (mixed with jointed hairs), which have a short, broad, incomplete oblique ring, opening vertically. New Zealand. (H. G. F. 31.) LUCANUS CERVUS, or STAG BEETLE. This is the largest of British beetles, and the male is so strikingly distinguished by the enormously developed jaws, that it could not be mistaken for any other insect. Large individuals are as much as 3in. long, including the jaws; but they vary greatly in size of body, and in length of jaws, the smaller males not exceeding half the above size. The female is somewhat smaller than the male, but is like the latter, except in having short, sharp jaws on a correspondingly smaller head. The head, thorax, and legs are black; the jaws and wing-covers are deep chestnut-brown, with black margins. The beetles feed on the juices of twigs and leaves, which they bruise with their strong jaws. They appear fond of sugary solutions. The female lays her eggs in dead, or dying, trunks and branches of Oaks or Willows; and in them the larvae live, feeding for three or four years. Though preferring rotten material, they may also eat into the living wood, and thus do considerable damage. The cocoons are made of chips of wood in the tree; and from them the beetles emerge when mature. Stag Beetles are frequently plentiful, e.g., in Kent, but are local, and do not occur in the North of England or in Scotland. A nearly related, but smaller insect-the Small Stag Beetle, Dorcus parallelopipedus-often lives along with Lucanus cervus, and is of the same habits. It also is common in the South of England. Neither insect does much injury to quite healthy trees, because of the preference of the larvae for decaying wood.