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TORYOISE BEETLES. 
BY F. B. CAULFIELD, MONTREAL. 
The tortoise beetles as they are called, from their resemblance in shape to a 
turtle or tortoise, belong to the great family of leaf-eating coleoptera, the Chry- 
somelide, but were formerly classed as a distinct family, the Cassidada@, a term 
signifying a helmet, the fore part of the thorax generally projecting over the 
head like the front of a helmet. In the members of this family the body is 
generally of a broad, oval form, flattened beneath, convex above. The antennz 
are short and thickened at the tip, presenting somewhat the appearance of a club, 
The head is small and generally hidden beneath the overlapping edge of the 
thorax, and the legs are very short, not extending much beyond the margin of 
the wing covers, so that the resemblance to a tortoise is really striking. The 
larvee of many kinds of insects are protected from the burning sunshine and the 
attacks of their enemies by a coat of hair or prickly spines, or else conceal them- 
selves beneath leaves or in crevices during the hotter parts of the day, but the 
insects in question adopt an entirely different plan, and shelter themselves beneath 
umbrellas, covered, not with silk or cotton, but with a mass of their own excere- 
ment. 
In most of these creatures the body resembles the perfect insect in shape, 
being broad and flattened, but they differ in having a row of spines on each side 
and in being provided with a tail, and a very remarkable tail at that. This 
instrument resembles in form a fork, with a rather thick, rounded handle, from 
which project two long prongs. This forked tail is curved over the creature’s 
back, and upon the prongs and lateral spines the excrement is heaped until a mass 
almost as large as the creature’s body is accumulated. Our Canadian species of 
tortoise beetles belong to three genera—Physonota, Coptocycla and Chelymorpha. 
Physonota helianthi, Rand, lives on the wild suntlower (Helianthus), and soon 
after these have leafed out in spring, such of the beetles as have survived the 
winter gather upon them. They are now of a bright, golden-green colour, and are 
exceedingly beautiful, gleaming and flashing like gems in the sunshine. Soon 
after this the eggs are deposited in an irregular cluster, covered with a gummy 
exudation which hardens on exposure to the air. This cluster is placed on the 
upper surface of the leaf, and near the tip just where it tapers to a point. 
The larvee are oblong-oval in shape, and when full grown measure nearly an 
inch in length. The general colour is dark olive green, and on the back are three 
short yellow stripes, that in the centre being a little the longest. On each side 
is a row of ten simple spines. When undisturbed these slug-like larvae keep the 
tail curved over the back, and both body and tail are constantly wet with semi- 
fluid excreta, so that the form of the creature can hardly be seen. From the 
middle of July to the end of August these larvee change to chrysalids, and by the 
end of the latter month and during September the beetles emerge, and may be 
found resting quietly on the leaves of their tood plant. They are now dressed in 
a coat of sober black, irregularly spotted with creamy white, very pretty little 
fellows in a neat evening dress, but very different to the magnificent marriage 
garment worn by their parents amidst the fresh green leaves and glowing sunshine 
of the early summer. 
The beetles appear to eat very little, but the larve are hungry creatures, 
te numerous holes in the leaves, and when abundant almost stripping the 
plants. 
