174 INSECTS AT HOIVIE. 



to definite plants, but the generality being in no wise par- 

 ticular as to the sort of plant, tree, or flower on which they 

 feed. The present species is very plentiful, and prefers young 

 leaves to every other kind of food. This fact shows tliat it is 

 one of the insects that are found in the spring time, and, by 

 beating w4iitethorn hedges about April and May, any number 

 can be procured. Although not brightly coloured, it is rather 

 a pretty Beetle. Its colour is chestnut-brown, and the elytra 

 are covered with a thick coating of scales, through which a few 

 stiff and shining bristles project. They are boldly striated, 

 each stria being composed of a series of circular impressions, 

 and between the strise is a row of elevated, smooth, blackish 

 tubercles. The thorax is very globular and thickly granulated. 



The scales which have been just mentioned are found in the 

 members of this family generally, and are most lovely objects 

 when viewed under the microscope. The most beautiful of 

 these scales are to be found on the little green Weevils that are 

 so plentiful upon nettles and hedge-side plants. Seen by the 

 unaided eye, there is nothing remarkable about these insects, 

 which appear to be simple dull-green Beetles ; but if one of 

 them be placed under the microscope, and viewed with a half- 

 inch glass with light concentrated on it by a ' bull's-eye ' lens, 

 it undergoes a transformation like that of Cinderella when 

 touched by the fairy wand. The whole of its body, head, 

 thorax, and elytra is clad with rounded glittering scales, set in 

 regular order, the scales being larger and fewer on the under 

 side than on the upper side of the thorax. Their colour is 

 gold-green, the latter hue being strongest at their tips, but 

 both colours shifting in accordance with the change of light. 

 The elytra are wonderfully beautiful, for they are boldly and 

 regularly ridged ; and as each ridge is densely covered witli 

 scales, the play of colour upon them is really wonderful. As if 

 to give more richness to the colouring, the elytra themselves 

 are rich golden-brown, which would be very beautiful even 

 without the clothing of emerald scales, but which are quite 

 thrown into the shade by the beauty of their covering. 



Nor do the wonders of the insect cease here. If a still 

 higher power be used, one for example which magnifies some 

 two-hundred diameters, each scale is seen to be shaped with 

 the most elaborate care. The form somewhat resembles that 



