Many of the species of Cryptocephalus are very common, but,

plentiful though they be, cannot be taken without some trouble

and a perfect knowledge of their habits. They are the wariest

of insects, and at the approach of the would-be captor they fall from the leaves on which they have been reposing, and allow themselves to drop to the ground.

I do not know a more irritating habit than this. Many of oui wariest insects take to the wing at the slightest alarm but in that case there is some hope of capturing them in fair chase, and the excitement of the hunt affords some compensation for the difficulty of capture. But when a little Beetle simply lets itself fall among the thick herbage and underwood, where even the sharpest eye can scarcely distinguish it, nothing can be more annoying to the entomologist who was in hopes of an easy capture. These lovely little Beetles give excellent practice to the young entomologist in the art of approaching insects. They will take alarm if he moves with a hasty or noisy tread, and they will be sure to drop among the underwood if he allows even the shadow of himself or his net to fall across them. Moreover, as befits their splendid clothing, they are creatures of light and warmth, and always bask in the sunshine, so that it is no easy matter to' come within reach of them, and yet to avoid throwing a shadow upon them.

The larvae of these Beetles envelope themselves in a curious pear-shaped cell, which seems to be formed from the same materials as the covering of the larva of GrioceHs merdiqera, described on page 206.. These lovely little Beetles are of various colours, among which green and blue are the most common. The present species is remarkable for the distinction in colour between the sexes-the thorax being black in the male insect, and red in the female. The head is black with a few yellowish spots on the front, and the elytra are red and covered with punctures arranged in irregular fines. As the specific name implies, it feeds on the hazel (Gorvlus aveUana), and it has been taken upon the leaves of that tree m Darenth Wood, and in Norfolk. It is a very rare species. At east twenty species of Cryptocephalus are known in England but many additions are likely to be made throupfi the rapid extension of entomological knowledge, and tL almost daily increase in number of insect-hunters.

Now we come to a family in which most of the species are brilliantly coloured ; and even those in which the hue is apparently of a sombre cast are seen, wlien closely examined, to be really clothed with as much beauty as their more conspicuous ■ relatives. This family is called the Chrysomelidae, a name which is composed of two Grreek words, signifying ‘ golden apple,’ and is appropriately given to these Beetles on account of the globular shape of their bodies, and the lovely tints wdth which they are adorned. In these Beetles the head is very far sunk in the thorax, but not so deeply as in the last-mentioned family, and the antennae are stouter, shorter, and more thickened towards the tip. One of these antennae is shown on Woodcut XXII. Fig. a. The body is oval or round, and the legs are of equal size. In the genus Timarcha, from which our example is taken, the wings are not developed, and the elytra are firmly soldered together at the suture, so that they cannot be opened.

On Woodcut XXII. Fig. 5, is represented an insect which is

plentiful, and known by the name of Timarcha Icevigata. very known, however, by the popular name of Bloodt- It is better Beetle, because it has a habit of ejecting a large drop Nose from its mouth when it is handled. There are of red fluid species belonging to this genus, and they are only two British representatives of the Chrysomelidse. by far the largest English nearly reaches a length of three- The present species sometimes of an inch, and, as the body is very stout and globular, quarters it may take rank among the larger British Beetles. this insect appears to be black, but a

At the first glance, with a magnifying glass, aided by a strong careful examination shows that the real colour is the deepest indigo-purple, light, with a gloss of green. The whole of the ^ upper sometimes covered with small punctures, which impart surface is thickly gloss. The tarsi are very broad, and to it a sort of velvety pads. There is a furnished beneath with thick, greyish-yellow on the foreliead. The second species, very broad impression the present insect. It is coriacea, much resembles

Timarcha blacker above. The clue so large, and is rather

not, however, is to be found in the punctures of the

distinction, however, have a tendency to run together, so

elytra, which are deep, and formation cannot be seen

as to form irregular lines. Tliis

without the use of a magnifying glass.

The larva of this Bloody-Nose Beetle is wonderfully like the

perfect insect. It is large, heavy, soft-bodied, and covered

with a shining blue or green skin, a yellowish patch appearing at the apex of the body. It is very common in the ditches under hedgerows, especially if the hedge be allowed to flourish in the luxuriant and picturesque manner which is so fascinating to an artistic eye, and so hateful to the agricultrual eye of the farmer, who cares nothing for beauty, and would sacrifice the loveliest country scene in England to get another cart-load of turnips out of his field. How these great, sluggish, conspicuous larvae ever escape the many perils of larval life is really wondeiful. I can only account for their survival on the supposition that they are distasteful to the insect-eating birds. Very many larvae of this section secrete a bitter, or acrid liquid, and the Timarcha larva may perhaps be protected by some such means.

On Woodcut XXII. Fig. 3, is represented a member of the typical genus, Ghrysomela staphylea. In this genus the wings are fully developed, and the last joint of the palpi is rather hatchet-shaped. The present species is a moderately large one, and has the body extremely convex. The general colour is reddish-brown with a slight metallic gloss. The whole upper surface is covered with punctures, those of the head and thorax being very fine, and those of the elytra large and irregularly disposed. Beneath, the body is pale-brown. There are about twenty British species of this beautiful genus. The present species takes its name from the common Bladder-nut (StavMh lea pinnata), upon which it can be found. It is a verv ^ insect. common

example of this family, namely, the msect which is represented on Woodcut XXIII. Fig. 1 and « f TT, ty the name of Prmocuri^ r„r jfe^sj beccabtmffw. In this genus the body is rather elonb ‘>1® thorax is squared. called called the the R il “'ll “ sometimes Brookhme, or Short-leaved Water Speedwellf Fero n^ becc^unga), that is so plentiful in running streams its

The colour of the Beetle is bright polished-blue above, sometimes taking a deep-green hue, and there is a reddish patch below at the apex of the body. The thorax is rather convex and thickly punctured, and on . each elytron there are ten rows of striae, the intervals between them being very finely wrinkled. The insect is common in some localities, but in

PrasocurisbeccabungEB. 2. PhyUotota brasalc®. 3. a. Pbyllotreta, larva. 6. Cassida. larva, Bidaviridis. 5. Triplaxrussica. c, 4. Cassida Cas- i d. Cassida, maxillary palpus. e. Cassida, labial palpi. pupa.

to be rather scarce— its rarity or plenty dependothers seems or absence of the herb > ino-, in all probability, on the presence feeds. There are five British species oft on'’ which it generally this genus.

Galerucidae, we come to the

Passing by the family of the the Halticida^ the members ot which, enormous family of

though individually small and insignificant, collectively exercise very great influence upon the agriculture of our country.

One of these insects is shown on Woodcut XXIII. Fig. 2, and ' is one of several Beetles which are known hy the popular name T of Turnip- Fleas or Hoppers. It is called scientifically Phyllo- ■ a treta (or Halticd) brassicce.

All the Halticidse can be distinguished by the very thick

hinder femora, which denote the possession of great leaping

powers on the part of the insect. The antennae are set between the eyes, and the edges of the elytra are wavy. They are attached to different plants, and are so constant to them that their specific names are often taken from their food-plant. ' The colour of the present species is deep-black, and there are two longitudinal yellow streaks upon each of tlie elytra, one near the base, and the other towards the apex. The body is egg-shaped, and the elytra are rounded at their tips. It is about the smallest species of the genus.

The true Turnip-flea is another species, called Phyllotreta nemorum, the colour of which is black, with a broad longitudinal yellow streak running nearly, hut not quite, to the end of the elytra. Both in the larval and perfect stages this insect is extremely damaging to the turnips, feeding upon the first tender shoots as they appear above the ground, and so destroy- , ing the whole plant. Sometimes they will devastate a field so ! completely, that it must be re-sown if a crop be wanted. The early life of this Beetle has been well told hy Mr. Le Keux, in : the ‘ Transactions of the Entomological Society,’ vol. ii. After narrating the destruction which these insects had wrought ° ’ he proceeds as follows : —

‘ Being still at fault as to the origin of the larvae, I captm-ed ten males and ten females in pairs, and enclosed them in a glass tube covered at each end with wire gauze, into which I introduced a single leaf of turnip, with water to keep it fresh • y this means I was enabled to examine the insects and leaf on all sides with a magnifying-glass at any time without disturbing them. Having, previous to introducing the leaf ascertained with a strong magnifier that there were no eo-o-s or arvae^ upon it, on the following in day I had the satisfiiction to perceive five small, smooth, oval-shaped eggs adherino- to the under side of the leaf, and so nearly rSemUiuo H

colour, that I was no longer surprised that they should hitherto have escaped my observation.

‘ This leaf was removed with the eggs upon it, and placed in water, and its place supplied by a fresh one, winch, on tlie following day, had three eggs upon it, and the third leaf four eggs, each of which leaves was placed separately in water. The fourth leaf I suffered to remain with the insects a week, supplying it with fresh water daily, and at the end of that time it had thirty-one eggs upon it. In two other glass tubes I confined single pairs of insects, with a leaf in each, upon which I never found more than a single egg deposited on the same day, and in those leaves taken from the field with larvae in them (some containing six), no two of them were of the same growth.

‘ I found great difficulty in preserving the leaves during the length of time necessary for the hatching of the eggs ; and as it would have been impossible to have preserved them long enough for the feeding of the larvae, I began to despair of success, until I observed that, in those leaves taken with larvae in them from the field, it was not uncommon for the larva to leave the burrow it had first commenced, and, travelling (which from its formation I had supposed it incapable of doing) to a distant part of the leaf, form a new one. About the time, therefoi’e, when I expected the eggs to hatch, I placed fresh leaves by the side of the old ones, to which the young larvae soon found their way, and lodged themselves.

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