now TO CATCH TIMID BEETLES. 207 



Many of the species of Cryptocephalus are very common, but, 

 plentiful though they be, cannot be taken \^dthout some trouble 

 and a perfect knowledge of their habits. They are the wa riest 

 of insects, and at the approach of the would-be captor they 

 fall from the leaves on which they have been reposing, and 

 allow themselves to drop to the ground. 



I do not know a more irritating habit than this. Many of 

 our wariest insects take to the wing at the slightest alarm ; 

 but in that case there is some hope of captui-ing them in 

 fair chase, and the excitement of the hunt affords some com- 

 pensation for the difficulty of capture. But when a little 

 Beetle simply lets itself fall among the thick herbage and 

 underwood, where even the sharpest eye can scarcely distinguish 

 it, nothing- can be more annoying to the entomologist who was 

 in hopes of an easy capture. These lovely little Beetles give 

 excellent practice to the young entomologist in the art of 

 approaching insects. They will take alarm if he moves with a 

 hasty or noisy tread, and they will be sure to drop among the 

 underwood if he allows even the shadow of himself or his 

 net to fall across them. Moreover, as befits their splendid 

 clothing, they are creatures of light and warmth, and always 

 bask in ^h^^ '=^nr,shine, so that it is no easy matter to come within 

 reach of them, and yet to avoid throwing* a shadow upon them. 



The larvae of these Beetles envelope themselves in a curious 

 pear-shaped cell, which seems to be farmed from the same 

 materials as the covering of the larva ( f Crioceris merdigera, 

 described on page 206. These lovely little Beetles are of 

 various colours, among which green and blue are the most 

 common. The present species is remarkable for the distinc- 

 tion in colour between the sexes — the thorax being black in 

 the male insect, and red in the female. The head is black 

 with a few yellowish spots on the front, and the elytra are red, 

 and covered with punctures arranged in irregular lines. As 

 the specific name implies, it feeds on the hazel (Corylus 

 avellana), and it has been taken upon the leaves of that tree 

 in Darenth V .od, and in Norfolk. It is a very rare species. 

 At least twenty species of Cryptocep^.alus are known in 

 England, but many additions are likely to be made through 

 the rapid extension of entomological knowledge, and the 

 almost daily increase in number of insect-hunters. 



