114 



at Datura! ^ 



quoted informs us, that the larva of Ce- 

 rambyx heros, which is one of the largest 

 European species, is considered by Latreille 

 to have been the Cossm of the ancients, 

 by whom it was esteemed a relishing treat. 



It resides in the oak, occasioning much, 

 injury to the timber, by boring large chan- 

 nels in all directions through the trunk of 

 the tree : this is also the case, as regards 

 young willows, with the Musk beetle ; the 

 larva of which is of a thick form and fleshy 

 consistence ; the head small ; the prothorax 

 large and transverse ; the meso and meta- 

 thorax very short, the former furnished with 

 a pair of spiracles, and the three thoracic 

 segments having three pairs of very short 

 legs. He further says, " The larvse of the 

 genus Callidium are similar to those of 

 Aromia (the Musk beetle) both in form and 

 habits. The places where they reside may 

 be known by the long cylindrical burrows 

 which they form, and which are filled with 

 excrement resembling powdered wood. It is 

 not difficult to keep these larvse alive in the 

 wood in which they are found, and in whicn 

 they assume the pupa state ; it is very rarely, 

 however, that they can be reared to the imago 

 state. Mr. Kirby has given an interesting 

 account of the proceedings of the larva 

 of Callidium violaceum, which, in the larva 

 state, feeds principally upon fir timber, upon 

 which the bark has been suffered to remain 

 after it has been felled ; residing under the 

 bark, mining its labyrinth -like passages in 

 every direction, and occasioning much da- 

 mage by means of its powerful jaws, which 

 resemble a large, thick, and solid section of 

 a cone of horn ; the whole of their interior 

 flattened surfaces applied together, so as 

 completely to grind the food. It is described 

 as being destitute of feet, pale, folded, some- 

 what hairy, convex above, and divided into 

 thirteen segments, with the head large and 

 convex. When full grown, it bores down 

 obliquely into the solid wood to the depth 

 of several inches, where it becomes a pupa." 

 The collection of these insects in the Bri- 



tish Museum is very extensive : their form, 

 colour, and appendages make them always 

 pleasing objects to the sight ; while to the 

 Natural Theologian, the part they play in 

 the economy of nature is very apparent and 

 easily demonstrable in many striking ways. 



CERASTES. A genus of serpent called 

 in England the Honied Snake, having two 

 small protuberances on its forekead. This 

 animal, which partakes of the nature of vivi- 

 parous serpents, is remarkable for its almost 

 total abstinence from water. It is found in 

 Lybia, Arabia, &c. 



CERBERUS. A sub-genus of Ophidians. 

 [See SERPENTS.] 



CERCOPID^E. An extensive family of 

 Homoptera, comprising several species of 

 singular insects, many of which are tropical. 

 The head is of small or moderate size, with 

 the face broad, the eyes lateral, the antenna? 

 inserted in the middle or lower part of the 

 face ; the promuscis short and three-jointed; 

 the prothorax very variable in form and 

 size, and in the sub-family Cercopidce being 

 the portion of the body which assumes the 

 remarkable forms above alluded to. The 

 fore-wings differ in their consistence, but 

 the majority have them strongly veined, 

 forming cells closed before reaching the 

 extremity of the wing. The hind tibice vary 

 in structure, being in some nearly simplei; 

 in others, furnished with a few strong spurs j 

 and in many, being triangular or quadran- 

 gular, each angle throwing out strong spines. 

 The abdomen of the female is furnished with 

 a multivalve ovipositor, variable in its form 

 in the different species. These insects are 

 often beautifully varied in their colours ; 

 they are constantly found amongst plants, 

 and on trees, upon the juices of which they 

 subsist, in all their states. One of the best 

 known insects in this family is the Aphro- 

 phora spumaria, which frequents garden 

 plants, the larva and pupa investing them- 

 selves with a frothy excrementitious secre- 

 tion. [See FROG-HOPPER.] 



CERCOPITHECUS. [See MOSKET.] 



CEREOPSIS. A genus of Palmipede birds 

 that frequent the coasts in New Holland. 

 The Cereopsis Novae Hollmvlice is about the 



TEW HOLLAND OEKEOFSIS. 

 'CEREOF3I3 NOV.B HOI/LANDI.B.) 



size of a common goose, and resembles it in its 

 general appearance, with the exception of the 

 length of the legs, which are from two feet 



