204 



INSECTS AT HOME. 



are rather rare, the Donacite are, beyond comparison, the most 

 common of water-frequenting Beetles, and the leaves of reeds, 

 water-lilies, and other plants are often studded with these 

 beautiful insects, whose polished and variously-coloured bodies 

 glitter in the simbeams like living gems. As many of the 

 species are exceedingly variable in colour, it will be as well for 



XX.ll 



1. Donacia Menyanthidis. 2. Crioceris merdigera. 3. Chrysomela Stapbylfca. 4. Cryp- 

 tocepUalus coryli. 5. Timarcha laevigata. a. Chrysomela, antenna. 0. Ciyptocephaliis, 

 antenna. c. Cryptocephalns, labial palpi. d. Cryptocephalus, maxillary palpus. e. Donacia, 

 antenna. /. Crioceris, antenna. 



tlie entomologist to procure a considerable number of speci- 

 mens, many, which at first sight appear to be different species, 

 being, when closely examined, seen to be nothing but varieties 

 of the same species. There is scarcely a colour of the rainbow 

 which is not exhibited by one or other of the Donacise, and in 

 some instances the same species exhibits an astonishing variety 

 of colour — one being perhaps almost black, another blue, 



