COLEOPTEEA. 



439 



who tells us that this unfortunate insect shared with the Cockchafer 

 the privilege of amusing children. The Cetonia flies by day and 

 by night, making use of its inferior wings without opening the 

 elytra (Fig. 423). When seized, it pours out from the extremity 

 of its abdomen a foetid liquid, the only means of defence the poor 



Fig. 423. Eosebeetle (Cetonii aurata). 



insect possesses. The larva (Fig. 424) much resembles the larva 

 of the Cockchafers, but the legs are shorter. It is found in rotten 

 wood, and often in ants' nests. When it has acquired its full 

 development it makes a shell of an oval form (Fig. 424), in which 



Fig. 424. Larva and cocoon of the Rose beetle. 



it transforms itself into a pupa ; the shell is composed of bits 

 of wood agglomerated with a silky matter which the larva 

 secretes. 



The larva of the Cetonia splendidula, which is the most magnifi- 

 cent found in France, is met with sometimes in the nests of wild 

 bees. In Russia the Rose beetle is considered a very emcacious 

 remedy for hydrophobia. In the governorship of Saratow, which tra- 

 verses the Yolga, hydrophobia is very frequent on account of the 

 heats which reign during the whole summer in its arid steppes. 

 The inhabitants, incessantly exposed to be bitten by mad dogs, have 



