Popular Sh'ctmuarji nf &mmatetr Mature. 97 



be seen on wooden buildings and fences in 

 July and August. We are informed by 

 Kirby and Spence that the grubs sometimes 

 greatly injure the wood-work of houses in 

 London, piercing the rafters of the roofs in 

 every direction, and, when arrived at matu- 

 rity, even penetrating through sheets of lead 

 which covered the place of their exit. One 

 piece of lead, only eight inches long and four 

 broad, contained twelve oval holes made by 

 these insects, and fragments of the lead were 

 found in their stomachs. 



The Violet Callidium (Callidium viola- 

 ceum) is of a Prussian blue or violet colour ; 

 the thorax is transversely oval, and downy, 

 sometimes having a greenish tinge ; and the 

 wing-covers are rough with thick irregular 

 punctures. It is about half an inch in length; 

 may be found in great abundance, in the 

 northern and middle parts of Europe, on piles 

 of pine-wood, from the middle of May to the 

 first of June ; and the larvae and pupae are 

 often met with in splitting the wood. They 

 live mostly just under the bark, where their 

 broad and winding tracks may be traced by 

 the hardened saw-dust with which they are 

 crowded. Just before they are about to be 

 transformed, they bore into the solid wood 

 to the depth of several inches. In this 

 country it is not so common. 



CALLIMORPIIA. A genus of Lepidop- 

 terous insects, belonging to the family Bom- 

 bycuke. One of these ( CaUimorpha Jacobete) 

 is both a beautiful and common Moth, its 

 wings when expanded measuring about 

 an inch and a half in width : on the upper 

 wings, which are of a greenish black colour, 

 are two round pink spots at the apex, and 

 an oblong pink streak parallel with the 

 outer margin. The under wings are entirely 

 pink, except the margins, which are of the 

 same colour as the ground-colour of the upper 

 wings. The head, body, and legs are quite 

 black. The larva feeds on the common 

 ragwort (Senecis Jacobcea) ; hence the name 

 of the insect. 



CALLISTUS. A genus of Coleopterous 

 insects, belonging to the family Carabidce. 

 The species C.'luatus is found in this coun- 

 try, and is about a quarter of an inch long : 

 the head and under parts of the abdomen 

 are of a greenish black colour, the thorax 

 is reddish-yellow, and the wing-cases are 

 yellow with six black spots : the antennae 

 and legs are black; the head and thorax 

 are very thickly punctured, and the elytra 

 are punctate-striated. 



CALLIONYMUS. [See DRAGOXET.] 



CALOSOMA. A genus of Coleopterous 

 insects, belonging to the family Carabidce, 

 one of which (Catosoma sycojihanta) is about 

 an inch long; the head, thorax, and under 

 parts of the body are of a beautiful blue 

 colour, the elytra are green, and the legs 

 and antennas block. There are about thirty 

 different species of these insects, the pre- 

 vailing colour being some shade of green 

 with a kind of brassy hue. They are very 

 useful in many places, from the number of 

 noxious caterpillars they destroy. Mr. I. W. 

 Slater (in the Zoologist for 1845) thus speaks 



of them : " This beautiful beetle is very 

 common in the pine-forests, particularly on 

 the path leading to the Raubchloss, where 

 they spangle the sand and the tree trunks 

 like living gems. The splendour of its elytra, 

 green, gold, scarlet, orange, the rich purple- 

 black of the thorax, the rapidity and ease of 

 its movements, render it a pleasing object 

 even to the most careless, whilst the pungent 

 odour, wliich it possesses more strongly, I 

 believe, than any other of the Geodephaga, 

 readily betrays its presence. Except from 

 the collector, however, it has nothing to 

 dread, its utility to man being both known 

 and appreciated. The pine-forests, for in- 

 stance, are exposed to the ravages of various 

 lepidopterous insects, such as Smerintlius 

 piiiastri, and, in particular, Gastrvpnha 

 pint. Now, a pine-tree, once stripped of its 

 leaves, or needles, as the Germans more aptly 

 term them, does not recover like an oak or 

 a sycamore, but dies. Scarcely is vegetation 

 at an end, when the Longicornes seize upon 

 the trunk, and burrow in it ; the wood-ants 

 tunnel it in all directions, and it thus be- 

 comes worthless. Many hundred acres of 

 the finest timber are thus often destroyed. 

 It is an interesting sight to any In it the 

 owner, to visit a forest under the infliction 

 of Gostropacha pini ; the thousands of cater- 

 pillars eagerly feeding produce a distinct 

 crackling aound, as the hard, dry pine-leaves 

 yield to their persevering jaws. The large 

 moths fluttering lazily about, or perched on 

 the leafless sprays, await the approach of 

 evening, when the gamekeepers kindle large 

 fires in the open spaces. Into these multi- 

 tudes of moths fall, and are consumed; but 

 this, with all that are destroyed by hand, or 

 devoured by birds, would avail but little, 

 but for the services of certain insects. Our 

 Calosoma is one of the most active; both larva 

 and beetle mount the trees, and slaughter 

 both moths and caterpillars, far more than 

 are requisite to satisfy their appetite. Those 

 seasons in which the pine-moth is most nu- 

 merous are also remarkably favourable to 

 the Calosoma, and to several kinds of ich- 

 neumons, which also prey upon the pine- 

 moth." 



CALYMENE. A genus of Trilobite 

 Crustacea, comprising the well-known C. 

 Blumeitbachii, found in the transition lime- 

 stone of Dudley. Head deeply divided by 

 two longitudinal grooves, abdominal rings, 

 &c. 



CALYPTOTmYNCTTTTS. A eenus of 

 birds belonging to the Parrot family, found 

 in New Holland. Tl:e plnmape is generally 

 black, sometimes of a smoky brown, orna- 

 mented occasionally with large spots of a 

 clear red or orange or -ulphur colour, forming 

 wide bands on the tail : the beak is short 

 and considerably elevated : by these and 

 other characters the birds contained in it 

 may be distinguished from the light coloured 

 and lively COCKATOO (Plyctolaphus). One 

 of the best known species is Banks's Cockatoo 

 (Cali/ptorhynchus Banksii), named after 

 Sir Joseph Banks, Bart., who was perhaps 

 the first naturalist that visited Australia. 

 The great Australian Ornithologist, Mr. 



