140 THE PHYTOPHAGA. 



plants. It is the Cassida equestris, or common green 

 Helmet Beetle, a small insect of about a third of an 

 inch in length, with the whole of its upper surface, 

 and the dilated margins of the prothorax and elytra 

 green, whilst the lower surface of the body is black. 

 But if the structure of this beetle be remarkable, that 

 of its larva is still more so. It is a broad, flattened, 

 ovate, green creature, with the anterior segments of 

 its body much larger than the following ones, and its 

 whole margin surrounded by numerous curious spines, 

 each of which is beset with minute bristles. The 

 extremity of the abdomen is slightly turned up, and 

 from its tip arises a singular forked appendage, which 

 extends forward nearly to the head, and is one of the 

 most remarkable peculiarities of the animal, for upon 

 this it collects its excrements, until they form a con- 

 siderable mass, which serves either as a parasol to 

 shade the little creature from the sun, or as a screen 

 to conceal it fi'om its enemies. This curious larva is 

 found upon the same plants as the perfect insects, and 

 the pupa may be met with in the same situations. 



As the species of this tribe with a narrow pro- 

 thorax approach the Longicorn Beetles in their form, 

 so also do some of them in their habits. These are 

 the Donacice, pretty little metallic beetles, which may 

 be met with in abundance in the summer upon 

 aquatic plants, in the interior of the stems of which 

 they pass their existence in the larva state. The 

 remainder of these narrow-necked species, like the 

 other members of the tribe, feed on the sm^face of the 

 plants infested by them, both in the larva and perfect 

 states. One of the most beautiful of these is the 

 Asparagus Beetle [Crioceris Asparagi), a little creature 

 about a quarter of an inch in length, with the lower 



