53* 



Short Communications : 



-h^Mb-^Inl („ee 



fov <A>I) the yellow ladies' bed- 



OWJ JO * 



id ddi 



baib 



moil 



f MJtraw (G. verum), and 

 have been till lately 

 unable to ascertain its 

 ,k.Y( name, either from 

 books or entomologi- 

 cal friends. Early in 

 June last, I collected 

 ^ V fourteen specimens in 

 a lane between Bolton 

 and Thurnscoe, near 

 Doncaster, determin- 

 ing, if possible, to ob- 

 serve their changes. 

 The larva in question 

 (b) is of an oval shape, 

 soft, with six feet near 

 its head, and with two 

 prolegs at the extre- 

 mity of the body, which 

 assist it in climbing from one leaf to another. Its colour is of 

 a deep metallic green. All, with the exception of two, which 

 I put into spirits of wine, fed most voraciously on the cross- 

 wort, and, at the expiration often days, buried themselves in 

 some earth, which I had placed, for that purpose, in a large 

 plant pot. In this state they continued till August 18., when 

 I perceived a perfect beetle (d) emerging from the earth, 

 which I immediately recognised to be the bloody-nosed beetle 

 (Timarcha tenebricosa). Upon examining the earth in the 

 plant pot I found others in the pupa state (c) with the elytra 

 only partially formed, and with the green slough attached to 

 them ; there was also a perfect beetle ready " to burst triumph- 

 ant from the tomb. ,, This, as well as the pupae, was of the 

 colour of Indian red ; but upon immersing them in spirits of 

 wine, they assumed the usual purple-black of the beetle, when 

 it has been exposed some time to the atmosphere. 



Respecting the habits of this insect, it may not be unin- 

 teresting to add, that Kirby and Spence, speaking of the 

 means of defence of insects, mention that this beetle, when 

 molested, ejects from its mouth drops of a reddish fluid, which 

 will stain paper of an orange colour, and from which circum- 

 stance it probably derived its common appellation. (Introd., 

 vol. ii. p. 247.) They also notice the singular cushions on its 

 feet, by the aid of which it is enabled to adhere to the trailing 

 plants of Galium, on which it feeds, and by which it can sup- 

 port itself against gravity. (Id., p. 321.) The eggs of this insect 



