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 color 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 engrav- 

 ing, 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 Cayeanensls. 

 Chrysotnela cerealls. 



Ptectoden scalator. 



Aspldomorpha ampUsslma. 



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. ThefZecfodera 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 

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

 Beetles, or Cassididae. 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 

 Chrysomda cerealis, a British example of a very large family. 



