Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Plural form of stag-beetle.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • In most Coleoptera the female is larger than the male, and it is therefore interesting, as bearing on the question of sexual selection, that in this case, as in the stag-beetles where the males fight together, they should be not only better armed, but also much larger than the females.

    The Malay Archipelago 2004

  • Sagueir palms, including some fine Cetonias and stag-beetles.

    The Malay Archipelago 2004

  • "Well, a puffin is better than three rats, any day " or mice " or that awful hedgehog with fleas that you had " or that pair of stag-beetles " or ..."

    The Sea of Adventure Blyton, Enid 1948

  • Male alligators have been described as fighting, bellowing, and whirling round, like Indians in a war-dance, for the possession of the females; male salmons have been observed fighting all day long; male stag-beetles sometimes bear wounds from the mandibles of other males; the males of certain other insects have been frequently seen fighting for a particular female who sits by, an apparently unconcerned beholder of the struggle, and then retires with the conqueror.

    The World's Greatest Books — Volume 15 — Science Various 1909

  • He did the same thing with various insects -- stag-beetles, cock-chafers, and the like.

    The Sexual Life of the Child Albert Moll 1900

  • The ravages of stag-beetles, a notable feature of late seasons, and probably one of the indirect but none the less disastrous results of the Land Valuation policy of the PRIME MINISTER, can be kept down by leaving bowls of caviare mixed with molasses in the places which they most frequent.

    Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, 1920-11-17 Various 1898

  • 'I hate a summer twilight,' returned Brian; 'it always gives me the horrors -- a creepy time, when all sorts of loathsome creatures are abroad -- bats, and owls, and stag-beetles, cockchafers, and other abominations.

    The Golden Calf 1875

  • The natives brought me daily a few insects obtained at the Sagueir palms, including some fine Cetonias and stag-beetles.

    The Malay Archipelago, the land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise; a narrative of travel, with studies of man and nature — Volume 1 Alfred Russel Wallace 1868

  • In most Coleoptera the female is larger than the male, and it is therefore interesting, as bearing on the question of sexual selection, that in this case, as in the stag-beetles where the males fight together, they should be not only better armed, but also much larger than the females.

    The Malay Archipelago, the land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise; a narrative of travel, with studies of man and nature — Volume 2 Alfred Russel Wallace 1868

  • She carried in her two young men as naughty boys carry stag-beetles, or other such small deer.

    Phoebe, Junior 1862

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