BRITISH INSECTS 



black and creamy-white pupa is short and stumpy. 

 The only defence this insect has is by ejecting an orange- 

 coloured fluid of an acrid nature. It feigns death in a 

 very clever v^ay, but takes to wing when it considers 

 the coast is clear. 



The Raspberry Beetle {Byturus tomentosus) is a very 

 destructive insect belonging to the family Byturidce. 

 The larva eats the tasty berries, but the adult devotes 

 attention to the buds and blossoms. The brown under- 

 coat is more or less concealed by yellowish-grey down. 

 The yellowish larva has a brown head, and is about 

 half an inch in length. Eggs are laid in raspberry 

 blossoms, and doubtless the reader has encountered 

 the larva when eating some of the luscious fruit. When 

 full-fed, a cocoon is made in a crack of the cane, or 

 elsewhere, and the beetle does not emerge until the 

 succeeding April or May. 



What are called the Lamellicorns include not only 

 many large and striking insects, but a number of them 

 are to be regarded as pests to crops and trees. We may 

 here include the Cockchafer, three of its cousins, and 

 the Dor Beetle, of the Family Scarahceidce. 



The Cockchafer {Melolontha vulgaris, Fig. 15), feeds 

 upon the leaves of elm, oak, and other trees, but it is 

 the fat larva which does most damage, as it devotes 

 attention to roots of cultivated crops, and passes three 

 years beneath the soil before completing its develop- 

 ment The adult beetle has a black head and abdomen, 

 with reddish-brown elytra, and fan-shaped antennae, the 

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