94 INSECTS. 



seed, may be found in the asparagus beds by hundreds. 

 The head, horns, and legs of this little creature are 

 black; the thorax is red; a red line runs round the 

 outer edge of the wing-cases, which are black, with three 

 large cream-coloured spots on each, two of which are 

 confluent. When teased, it makes, like some other 

 beetles, a curious creaking sound. The eggs of this 

 species are fixed endways on the leaves, and sometimes 

 one is placed standing end to end on another. They 

 are plentiful enough to do great mischief in asparagus 

 beds. A red species of Crioceris frequents the white lily. 



The Cassida viridis, or Tortoise-beetle, is a very pretty 

 little creature, completely concealed under a thin oval 

 shell, slightly concave and broad, which is larger on all 

 sides than the body which it covers. It is of a light but 

 vivid green colour. 



The Bloody-nosed-beetle, a common, humpbacked, 

 bluish-black beetle, with broad tarsi, and known by its 

 habit of expelling a drop of red liquid from its mouth, 

 belongs to this division. 



The last which shall be mentioned is the Turnip -fly 

 (Haltica), or, as it is sometimes called from its habit of 

 leaping, the Turnip -flea, a small active beetle, with large 

 muscular thighs formed for leaping. The larva of this 

 insect mines the leaves of the turnip, and the ravages 

 committed by it are such as very seriously injure the 

 turnip crops. Messrs. Kirby and Spence relate that 

 in 1786 the loss occasioned by them in Devonshire 

 amounted to 100,OOOL The destruction of a whole crop 

 is a common occurrence, even a second sowing often 

 failing to secure success. 



This division contains some semi-aquatic genera, of 

 which the pupa? are aquatic, and the perfect insects live 



