CASSIDIADiE, CASSIDA. 365 



Ziod';2/shield-shapeclj suborbicular, flat beneath, above somewhat elevated, the 

 margin of the thorax and elytra frequently dilated : legs moderate. 



The larvse of the insects contained in this singular family are 

 broad, ovate, depressed, with the sides spinous, and the tail forked 

 and round ; they have six short legs, each furnished with a scaly 

 hook : they obtain their nourishment from the sap of plants, and 

 void their excrements upon their furcate tail, upon which they, in 

 the course of time, form a complete covering to the body by this 

 singular process, and when the mass becomes too large, or gets 

 broken off by any accident, it is reproduced : — their pupae consider- 

 ably resemble the larvse ; they are depressed and broad. Math the 

 thorax ample and dilated, and the lateral margins of the body ser- 

 rated. — The typical genus only is found in Britain. 



Genus CCCCXIII. — Cassida Auctorum. 



AntenncE subfiliforra^ rather incrassated towards the apex, the basal joint clavate, 

 second globose, third elongate, terminal elongate-conic. Palpi maxillary cla- 

 vate, with the apical joint elongate-conic, acute ; labial filiform, with the 

 apex acute: ZaZimm elongate, entire : /eg-5 short: it/Zi/ce simple. 



The insects of this singular genus may be at once known by their 

 depressed form, with the thorax and elytra expanding over the 

 sides, and concealing the outline of the body, the tips of the an- 

 tennae and of the legs alone being visible : from their peculiarity 

 of form they have been termed tortoise-beetles, as they do not in- 

 aptly represent the animal whence their name is derived : most of 

 the species are of lively green or rufous hues, sometimes varied 

 with black, or elegantly striped with metallic tints, which fade with 

 death, but may be revived by holding the insect near the fire. 



A. Without wings. 



Sp. 1. vittata. Plate xxiii. f. 1. JVigra, supra rubro, thorace maculis quatuor, 

 elytrisque vittd interruptd suturaque airis. (Long. corp. 3 — 3^ lin.) 



Ca. vittata. Fahricius.—Steph. Catal. 228. No. 2339. 



Black, above rufous : thorax with four black spots, one minute over the head, 

 behind which is a large one at the base, and two others on the posterior 

 angles : elytra obsoletely rugulose transversely, with the suture and an inter- 

 rupted streak on each black, and a spot of similar hue at the base : antennae 

 with the base ferruginous. 



The interrupted vitta on the elytra varies considerably. 



