TORTOISE BEETLES. 



477 



and thorax. The elytra are boldly decorated with the same contrasting hues. The 

 female is also white and black, but the former colour greatly predominates, the black 

 being reduced to marks on the sides of the head and thorax, the tips of the elytra, and 

 four black spots, two on the middle of the elytra and the other two on the thorax. 



The well-known MUSK BEETLE (Cerambyx moschdtus) belongs to this group. The 

 scent, which more resembles attar of roses than musk, is extremely powerful, and is 

 often the means of betraying the presence of the insect as it lies hidden among the leaves 

 The larva is a wood-borer, and I have taken numbers out of old willow trees, which I 

 split with wedges for the express purpose. 



Two more examples of the Longicorn beetles are given in the accompanying engraving, 

 in order to show the variety of form exhibited by these beautiful insects. 



On the left hand is seen a beetle with a large tuft of hair on each of the antennae. 

 This is the Disaulax Cayennensis, a native of the country whence it takes its name. 

 These curious tufts present a very striking appearance, being jetty black with white tips. 



Disaulax Cayennensis. 



CTirysomela ceredlis. 



Plectodera scalator 



Aspidomorpha amplitsima. 



The stout bases of the elytra are yellowish orange. The whole of the body is boldly 

 marked with deep black and snowy white of a silvery lustre. The Plectodera scalator, a 

 much larger species, belongs also to the Longicorns, and like the preceding species is 

 marked with black and white, though the arrangement of the tints is different. 



THE broad and flat insect in the centre of the engraving is the Aspidomorpha 

 amphssima, a beetle that is found in the Philippines, and is the largest of the Tortoise 

 Beetles, or Cassididte. These insects derive their popular name from the tortoise-like 

 shape of the body, which is so expanded that the whole of the limbs are concealed under 

 its shelter. Many of these beetles are a light green, or greenish brown, and when they 

 are stationary upon a leaf they can with difficulty be distinguished. The larva is 

 remarkable for possessing a large forked appendage upon the end of the tail, which 

 turns over the back and is loaded with excrementitious substances, so that the creature 

 can hardly be seen under the load which it bears. 



In the present species the body is chestnut-brown, and the elytra are furnished with 

 wide, thin, and semi-transparent margins. Their centre is spotted with black. 



Passing by several families, we come to our last example of the Coleoptera, the 

 Chrysomela cerealts, a British example of a very large family. 



