i6o COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



eye of the farmer, who cares nothing for beauty, and 

 would sacrifice the loveliest country scene in England 

 to get another cart-load of turnips out of his field. 

 How these great, sluggish, conspicuous larvae ever 

 escape the many perils of larval life is really wonder- 

 ful. I can only account for their survival on the 

 supposition that they are distasteful to the insect-eat- 

 ing birds. Very many larvae of this section secrete a 

 bitter, or acrid liquid, and the Timarcha larva may 

 perhaps be protected by some such means. 



IN the accompanying illustration will be seen de- 

 picted a member of the typical genus, Clirysomela sta- 

 phylea. In this genus the wings are 

 fully developed, and the last joint of 

 the palpi is rather hatchet-shaped. 

 The present species is a mode- 

 rately large one, and has the body 

 extremely convex. The general 

 colour is reddish-brown with a 

 slight metallic gloss. The whole 

 upper surface is covered with 

 punctures, those of the head and 

 ia staphyiea. thorax being very fine, and those 

 of the elytra large and irregularly disposed. Beneath, 

 the body is pale-brown. There are about twenty 

 British species of this beautiful genus. The present 

 species takes its name from the common Bladder-nut 

 {Staphyiea pinnatd], upon which it can be found. It 

 is a very common insect. 



PASSING by the family of the Galerucidae, we come 



