256 INSECTS ABROAD. 



absolutely meaningless, is wrongly spelled. Had it been auri- 

 capilla, it would have signified " golden-liaired," and would 

 have had a direct reference to this yellow down. But as the 

 name is spelled aurisapilla in the printed catalogues, it must 

 perforce be retained. 



Next to the Clythida3 come the Cryj)tocephalidpe, This rather 

 long name is formed from two Greek words signifying " hidden- 

 head," and is given to the insects because their small heads are 

 almost entirely sunk in the thorax, so that when viewed from 

 above they look, but for the antennae, a.s if they had no head at 

 all. The elytra do not quite cover the end of the body, and the 

 entire form is thick, cylindrical, and looks as if it had been 

 abruptly truncated in front. We have in England only one 

 genus, Cryptocephalus, of which about eighteen species are 

 known. They are bright little insects, and may be found on 

 fine summer days basking in the blaze of the hottest sunbeams. 

 Their larvae inhabit odd moveable cases, which are formed, like 

 the covering of the Cricoeridae, from the excrement. 



Several of the species have been lately discovered, and it is 

 believed that others yet remain for discovery. Indeed, every 

 collector, when he visits a new locality, especially to the North 

 of England or Scotland, is sure to keep a careful watch on the 



foliage, in hopes of detecting 

 some species of Cryptocephalus 

 at present unknown. And as 

 they are small beetles, and apt 

 to be exceedingly variable, it is 

 likely that there may be in 

 cabinets more than one species 

 which has not been inserted in 

 any catalogue. 



Fic. i23.--Poropieuramoustrosa. In Order to show morc clearly 



the extraordinary form of tlie 



insect which has been selected as an example of this family, it 



has been found necessary to magnify it, the length of an ordinary 



specimen being about half an inch. 



This is a most difficult insect to describe. Its colour is a ricli, 

 sliining violet, with a metallic glitter like that of foil. The whole 

 surface is knnlibed, and creased, and wrinkled, and channelled, and 



