Cri/)>loetoinal(i.] PBYTOPHAGA. 395 



narrowed in front and widened behind, with the margins of the thorax 

 ami elytra not explanate, whereas in tlie latter the shape is round <>r 

 oval and very convex, with the margins of the thorax and elytra much 

 widened and extended to a considerable distance beyond the body ; the 

 head, moreover, is free in the Hispina, whereas in the Cassidina it is, as 

 a rule, entirely hidden by the thorax ; the larvae of both tribes protect 

 themselves with a covering formed of their own excrement; some of the 

 species of the Hispina are large and conspicuous insects (e.g. Alurnus), 

 and many are brightly coloured ; a considerable number are closely set 

 with upright spines or bristles, from which the genus Hispa derives its 

 name ; H. atra, which has been mentioned above as having been re- 

 corded in error as British, has occurred in the Scandinavian region, and 

 may possibly be confirmed as indigenous ; it is a small dull black species 

 ( '_' \ .'i mm . in length), of an oblong shape, which may easily be recognized 

 by the large and stout oblong spines which cover its upper surface. 



CASSIDINA. 



According to the Munich catalogue published in 1876, this tribe 

 contains thirty-nine genera and a large number of species, the three 

 genera, Mesoinphalia, Hope (Cyrtonota, Chevr.), Cawi'da, L., qnd Copto- 

 cyda, Boh., comprising upwards of one thousand between them ; the 

 chief characteristic of the tribe is found in the fact that the thorax and 

 elytra have the margins much expanded, so that the under-side of the 

 body is completely covered as though by a shield ; the legs also are 

 short and retractile, and the head in most species is quite concealed 

 beneath the anterior margin of the thorax ; from these peculiarities, as 

 well as from the general shape, the species have received the common 

 name of "Tortoise-beetles;" some ol tho exotic species are among the 

 most brilliantly coloured of all the Coleoptera, but in most cases tho 

 colour very rapidly fades, and turns to a dingy brown ; if the insects 

 are comparatively fresh, immersion in glycerine or spirits of wine will 

 partially restore the colour for a time, as I have found by experience in 

 the case of species received from my brother, Rev. P. H. Fowler, when 

 in Assam ; two of our British specie*, C. Holrilix, L., and C. vittata, 

 Vill. (oblonga, 111.), are furnished with brilliant longitudinal sutural 

 bands, which very quickly fade ; no one who has seen them in life 

 could recognize them in the dingy-looking insects that stand under their 

 names in our collections ; the forms, as well as the colours, of the exotic 

 species are very striking, some of them being provided with a long TIJ> 

 right pointed horn which rises from the centre of their backs. The 

 larvae, as above mentioned, protect themselves with a covering formed 

 from their own excrement, which, according to Westwood, they bear 

 over their backs by tho assistance of an elongated forked apind.igi- 

 arming fruin the extremity of the body, and bent forwards, reaehing 



