552 INSECTA. 



by two or three small and almost equal teeth. America produces a 



great number of species. In some the superior surface of the body 



and even a portion of the antennae are densely spinous. Such is the 



ff. atra, L.j Oliv., Col., VI, 95, I, 9, called by Geoffroy the 



Chataigne noire. It is entirely black, extremely spinous, and a 



line and a half in length. In the environs of Paris, on the 



Grasses. 



The southern departments of France produce another species 



— the testacea, Oliv., lb., 1, 7 — closely allied to the preceding 



one, but fulvous. It is found on the Cisti. 



Chalepus, Thunb. 



The Chalepi, if we take the H. spinipes of Fabricius as their type, 

 differ from the Hispae proper in their long, slender and arcuated 

 legs, the two anterior of which are armed on the inner side, in the 

 males, with a long spine. The third joint of tht antennae is also 

 proportionally longer. 



Some other Hispae — monoceros, Oliv.; porrecta, Schoenh.; 

 rostratics, Kirby, Sec. — remarkable for a projection on their head 

 resembling a horn, may perhaps form another subgenus. 



Cassida, Lin. Fab. 



The Cassidae are distinguished from the Hispae by the following 

 characters. The body is orbicular or almost ovoid, and in some few 

 nearly square. The thorax, more or less semicircular, or forming 

 the segment of a circle, entirely conceals and covers the head, or en- 

 closes it in an anterior emargination. The elytra, frequently ele- 

 vated in the region of the scutellum, project beyond the body. The 

 mandibles present four teeth at least, and the exterior maxillary lobe 

 is at least as long as the inner one. 



The Imatidia — Imatidium — of Fabricius, only differs from his 

 Cassidae in their head, which is exposed and fixed in the emargina- 

 tion of the thorax. In both the body is depressed, almost round, in 

 the form of a shield or a little Tortoise, frequently elevated into a py- 

 ramid on the middle of the back, and overlapped all round by the 

 sides of the thorax and elytra. The under surface is flat, so that 

 these Insects seem as if glued to the spot to which they are attached. 

 C. eqiiestris, Fab.; Oliv., Col., V, 97, i, 3. Closely allied to 

 the following species, but rather larger, and only found in aqua- 

 tic localities on Mint. It is green above and black beneath; 

 margin of the abdomen and the feet yellowish. 



C. viridis, L.; Oliv. Col., II, 29. Length one line and a half; 

 it only differs from the equestris in the puncta of the elytra, 



