Crioceris. | PHYTOPHAGA, 283 
he also gives an account of the life-history of the insect, which is as follows :—* The 
eggs (eight or ten in number) are deposited upon the leaves of the white and other 
lilies, fastened near together by a glutinous secretion, which soon hardens, The 
larve are hatched in about fifteen days; at first they feed gregariously upon the 
parenchyma of the leaf, progressing in regular rows, but separating as they increase 
in growth; they are short, thick, and fleshy, with six articulated legs, and the skin 
of a dirty colour; as a rule they are entirely covered with a layer of humid matter, 
resembling macerated leaves, but which is composed of the excrement of the insect, 
the anal aperture being placed in the dorsal part of the last segment of the body, 
thus affording a singular, but apparently disgusting, means of defence against the 
effects of the sun, or the rapacity of insectivorous birds; the excrement being by 
degrees pushed forwards and upwards, without adhering to the body of the larva, 
which is, indeed, able to cast it entirely off at will. The larva attains its full size in 
about a fortnight, when it descends into the earth, and forms an oval cell, smoothly 
polished, and coated on the inside with a varnish-like secretion, within which it 
assumes the pupa state, which lasts about another fortnight.” 
The larvee of C. asparagi are short, thick and fleshy, and are narrowed in front ; 
they are of a dirty slate-colour, with the head and legs and two oblong spots on the 
first segment black; they possess a fleshy proleg at the apex of the abdomen, by 
which they adhere so closely to their food-plant that it is hard to pull them off; 
when alarmed they emit from their mouth a black fluid ; these larvee occasionally do 
considerable damage to asparagus crops; Miss Ormerod (Manual of Injurious In- 
sects, p. 2) suggests several remedies; dipping the infested shoots in a mixture of 
half a pound of soft soap, a quarter of a pound of tlowers of sulphur, and about the 
same quantity of soot, well mixed together in a pail of water, has been found a good 
remedy ; syringing with water warm enough to make the grubs loosen hold, but yet 
not of a heat to hurt the foliage, will clear them ; the greater part fall as the water 
touches them, and the rest on a smart tap being given to the shoot; the ground 
underneath may be strewed with soot, which prevents their return. 
Of our three British species one is somewhat doubtfully indigenous, 
and has not been taken for many years, and another is extremely rare. 
i. Thorax very strongly constricted about middle, 
almost cordiform ; elytra entirely red. . . . C. LILtI, Scop. 
(merdigera, F.) 
II. Thorax slightly contracted before base, cylin- 
drical, 
i. Elytra red, with six small black spots on 
CACHY Caneree ster histo shemale th ura (oft ore 
ii. Elytra of a deep ccernleous or greenish-coeru- 
leous colour with the sides, apex, and three 
large spots at sides of each (sometimes more 
or less confluent) testaceous . . . . . . C, ASPARAGI, L. 
C. DUODECIM-PUNCTATA, L. 
CG. lilii, Scop. (merdigera, F., nec L. ; liliorum, Thoms.). Oblong, 
yather convex, with the elytra much broader than thorax, of a bright 
scarlet colour, with the head, antenne, legs, and under-side black ; the 
scarlet colour fades considerably after death; head broad, strongly 
furrowed ; antenne rather long, thickened towards apex ; thorax strongly 
constricted behind middle and depressed before base, uneven, sparingly 
punctured, with a tolerably regular row of punctures on the central 
line ; elytra with comparatively fine punctured striz, interstices smooth. 
L. 6-8 mm. 
On species of Lilium, chiefly on the large white garden lily ; very rare ; Deptford, 
Camberwell, Peckham, and one or two other London localities ; Swansea district ; 
