Since the days of Drury this handsome insect has been ascertained to be a native of our island. It has, however, until lately been deemed one of the rarest as well as most beautiful species in the rare family to which it belongs. Entomologists are indebted not only for a considerable number of specimens, but, what is more interesting, for a knowledge of the habits of the insect to William Raddon, Esq. the celebrated engraver, by whom an interesting notice has been published in the Entomological Magazine. It feeds upon the sea {59}spurge (Euphorbia paralias), which grows in plenty on the sand hills in the neighbourhood of Barnstaple and Braunton Burrows, in Devonshire. These sand hills are of great extent, and, as suggested by Mr. Curtis, must have been collected by the winds and storms to which they are constantly exposed. During the winter the whole soil is frequently removed, so as completely to alter the surface of the country; a great number of the pupæ must consequently be destroyed or buried at a considerable distance below the surface, where probably they lie hid until they are brought to light and life by the influence of the elements. These circumstances account for the great irregularity in the appearance of the insects. In 1814, for instance, they were so plentiful that Mr. Raddon found not less than one hundred minute larvæ upon an armful of spurge, which he had cut at dusk the preceding evening. The rarity of the insect is also increased by the difficulty of rearing it. The late Mr. Fuseli, the royal academician, who was a zealous entomologist, was enabled only to obtain one moth from twenty chrysalides. The larvæ are full grown in September, and the moth appears in the following June. PLATE XXX. [Illustration] DYNASTES HERCULES. Plate XXX. fig. 1. [male].--2. [female]. ORDER: Coleoptera. SECTION: Lamellicornes. FAMILY: Dynastidæ, _MacLeay_. GENUS. DYNASTES, _MacLeay_. Geotrupes, _Fabricius_. Scarabæus, _Latreille_, _Linnæus_, _&c._ DYNASTES HERCULES. Thoracis [male] cornu incurvo longissimo subtus barbato utrinque unidentato, capitis recurvato dentato. (Long. Corp. 5 unc. 9 lin. [male].) SYN. Scarabæus Hercules, _Linn. Syst. Nat._ 2. 541. 1. _Oliv. Ins._ 1. 3. _b._ 1. _tab._ 1. _f._ 1. _tab._ 23. _fig._ 1. _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ 1. _p._ 2. _No._ 1. _Naturalists' Library, Beetles, pl._ 11. _Edwards, Birds, t._ 334. _Gronov. Zooph._ 412. _Johnst. Ins. t._ 16. _f._ 1. _Petiv. Gaz. t._ 70. _f._ 1. _Roesel. Scar. tom._ iv. _t._ 5. _f._ 3. _Pal. Beauv. Ins. d'Afr. & d'Amer. Col. Pl._ 1. c. _f._ 1. _Marcgr. Braz._ 247. _fig._ 3. HABITAT: Gaudaloupe (_Drury_). South America.