Pliny the Elder discusses beetles in his Natural History, describing the stag beetle: "Some insects, for the preservation of their wings, are covered with (elytra)—the beetle, for instance, the wing of which is peculiarly fine and frail. To these insects a sting has been denied by Nature; but in one large kind we find horns of a remarkable length, two-pronged at the extremities, and forming pincers, which the animal closes when it is its intention to bite." The stag beetle is recorded in a Greek myth by Nicander and recalled by Antoninus Liberalis in which Cerambus is turned into a beetle: "He can be seen on trunks and has hook-teeth, ever moving his jaws together. He is black, long and has hard wings like a great dung beetle".Antoninus Liberalis. Metamorphoses. Trans. Celoria, F. 1992. The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A translation with a commentary. London and New York, Routledge. The story concludes with the comment that the beetles were used as toys by young boys, and that the head was removed and worn as a pendant.
Pliny the Elder discusses beetles in his Natural History, describing the stag beetle: "Some insects, for the preservation of their wings are covered with (elytra)—the beetle, for instance, the wing of which is peculiarly fine and frail. To these insects a sting has been denied by Nature; but in one large kind we find horns of a remarkable length, two-pronged at the extremities, and forming pincers, which the animal closes when it is its intention to bite." The stag beetle is recorded in a Greek myth by Nicander and recalled by Antoninus Liberalis in which Cerambus is turned into a beetle: "He can be seen on trunks and has hook-teeth, ever moving his jaws together. He is black, long and has hard wings like a great dung beetle".Antoninus Liberalis. Metamorphoses. Trans. Celoria, F. 1992. The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A translation with a commentary. London and New York, Routledge. The story concludes with the comment that the beetles were used as toys by young boys, and that the head was removed and worn as a pendant.