218 BRITISH BEETLES. 



The oblong species of Gonioctena, some of which are, 

 when alive, bright red with black spots, are found on 

 aspens ; they have a small tooth in the middle of their 

 claws, and the tibire also strongly and sharply toothed 

 on the outer side just above the apex. 



Gastrophysa, as its name implies, contains insects in 

 which the abdomen is much inflated, especially in the 

 females; these may be seen crawling slowly on path- 

 ways in cornfields, or on the common dock, with their 

 elytra elevated, and abdominal plates widely distended, 

 through the large mass of eggs with which they are 

 loaded. 



The remaining genera, usually found on plants near 

 water, demand no comment ; except, perhaps, Phratora, 

 of which the narrow and uniformly blue or brassy species 

 are exceedingly common on willows, both in the summer 

 ontheleaves and trunk, and in winter hybernating beneath 

 the bark in society. The larvae, also are gregarious, feeding 

 in rows upon the leaves, of which they devour only one side. 



The GALLERUCID^E are mostly oval and somewhat 

 convex, being generally decidedly widest behind; their 

 legs are nearly uniform, the hind femora being simple, 

 and the front coxae approximated ; their antennas are of 

 considerable length, closer together at the base than in 

 the Chrysomelidae, and not thickened at the apex ; their 

 head is inserted in the thorax almost up to the eyes, 

 which are entire, the thorax itself being margined at the 

 sides, more or less hollowed out in front, and with pro- 

 duced front angles ; the maxillary palpi are thickest in 

 the middle, with the apical joints resembling two cones, 

 united at the base ; and the claws have a tooth in the 

 middle. 



They are of softer integuments than the Chrysomelidcs 



