A WINGED GEM IOI 



for in the space of a few seconds, as you hold him in 

 your hand, he has become a milky, iridescent opal, and 

 now mother-of-pearl, and finally crawls before you in 

 a coat of dull orange. 



A few of the beetles kept in a box and supplied with 

 leaves, changing from gilt to mother-of-pearl or dull 

 coral, as the whim suits them, are an interesting study. 



Beneath the bind -weed leaves one may also find 

 numbers of small black larvae with a singular black lat- 

 tice held suspended flat over their backs upon their 

 forked tails. These are the inconspicuous and uncouth 

 grubs from which our golden beetles have sprung, and a 

 little search among the leaves will also disclose numbers 

 of the tiny chrysalids suspended by their tails. 



Don't let the summer pass without making the ac- 

 quaintance of the Cassida. After the 1st of July he 

 may be found until late autumn. You must see him at 

 home if you would see him at all, for the dead insect 

 loses all this wondrous lustre. The wild bind-weed is 

 the favorite haunt of the insect, but the cultivated 

 morning-glory even about our porch is often begemmed 

 with these living jewels without our having suspected 

 their presence. 



