COLEOPTERA. 



CITRYSOMELID^. 



387 



{fiO 4''7' 17*) '^ pfvssed inside the case, the pupa exhibiting the pecu- 

 liar characters of the genus. 



The genus Eumolpus comprises numerous very splendid exotic 

 species ; but the most notable is the E. Vitis, a small insect, not ex- 

 ceeding a quarter of an inch in length, which inhabits the wine coun- 

 tries of Europe, and commits great devastation upon the vines. Its 

 larva appears in spring, and devours the young leaves and twigs, and 

 gnaws around the stems which support the bunches of grapes as soon 

 as they have made their appearance, thus preventing the flowing of 

 the sap and the maturing of the fruit. It is of an oval form, with the 

 head and six legs scaly, and two strong jaws (See the Baron Walc- 

 kenaer's 3Iemoir vpon the Insects of the Vine, in Ann. Soc. Ent. 

 France, 1836, p. 217.) 



M. Leon Dufour has also noticed the ravages of Colaspis Barbara 

 upon the lucerne (Medicago sativa), in Spain, which is entirely devoured 

 by the larvae of this insect. These larvae are hexapod, black, smooth, 

 and a quarter of an inch long ; and are destroyed by the Spanish pea- 

 sants by means of a large sweeping net. {Ann. Soc. Ent. de France, 

 1836, p. 372.) M. Daube has also published some additional obser- 

 vations, on the same insect, in the same Annates, p. xlvi. ; and has sug- 

 gested that fowls may be advantageously employed to devour these 

 insects, (^mi. 1837, p. xlix.) 



The genus Timarcha comprises the largest species of Phytophagous 

 insects found in this country, and which are destitute of wings. The 

 T. laevigata (which Linnaeus placed in the genus Tenebrio, C. tene- 

 bricosa Fahr.fig. 48. 1.) varies in length from half to three quarters of 



Fig. 48. 



an inch. These insects are very slow in their movements, and 

 a reddish fluid from the mouth and joints of the legs when alar 



cc 2 



emit 

 nicd ; 



