250 



ZOOLOGY. 



[FART II. 



of large dimensions, Batocera rubus 1 , called by the 

 Singhalese " Cooroominya" makes its way into the 

 stems of the younger trees, and after perforating them 

 in all directions, forms a cocoon of the gnawed wood 

 and sawdust, in which it reposes during its sleep as a 

 pupa, till the arrival of the period when it emerges as a 

 perfect beetle. Notwithstanding the repulsive aspect of 

 the large pulpy larvae of these beetles, they are esteemed 

 a luxury by the Malabar coolies, who so far avail them- 

 selves of the privilege accorded by the Levitical law, 

 which permitted the Hebrews to eat " the beetle after his 

 kind." 2 



Tortoise Beetles. There is one family of insects, the 

 members of which cannot fail to strike the traveller 

 by their singular beauty, the Cassididce or tortoise 

 beetles, in which the outer shell overlaps the body, and 

 the limbs are susceptible of being drawn entirely within 

 it. The rim is frequently of a different tint from the 

 centre, and one species which I have seen is quite start- 

 ling from the brilliancy of its colouring, which gives it 

 the appearance of a ruby enclosed in a frame of pearl ; 

 but this wonderful effect disappears immediately on the 

 death of the insect. 3 



ORTHOPTEEA. The Soothsayer. But the admiration 

 of colours is still less exciting than the astonishment 

 created by the forms in which some of the insect families 

 present themselves ; especially the " soothsayers " (Man- 

 tidce] and " walking leaves." The latter 4 , exhibiting 

 the most cunning of all nature's devices for the preser- 

 vation of her creatures, are found in the jungle in all 



several coco-nut plantations, " vary- 

 ing in extent from 20 to 150 acres. 

 and about two to three years old ; 

 and in these he did not discover a 

 single young tree untouched by the 

 cooroomina." P. 49. 



1 Called also B. 

 Lamia rubus, Fabr. 

 a Leviticus, xi, 22. 



octo-maculatus ; 



3 One species, the Cassida farinosa, 

 frequent in the jungle which sur- 

 rounded my official residence at Kan- 

 dy, is covered profusely with a snow- 

 white powder, arranged in delicate 

 filaments, which it moves without 

 dispersing : but when dead they fall 

 rapidly to dust. 



* Phyttium siccifoUum. 



