196 CANTHARIS VESICATORIA. 



formerly brought only from Spain, whence they were called 

 Spanish Flies. It appears in the South of Europe about the sum- 

 mer solstice, and single specimens have occasionally been taken in 

 England. It feeds on several different plants, especially on the 

 ash, elder, privet, lilac, white poplar, and tartarian honey-suckle, 

 on which it is sometimes found in such numbers as soon to deprive 

 whole trees of their verdure. It is distinguishable even at a dis- 

 tance by the disagreeable odour which it exhales, which becomes 

 even dangerous if sustained for any considerable time. They are 

 two-thirds of an inch in length, and one-fourth of an inch in 

 breadth, oblong, and of a rich shining golden-green colour. The 

 head is inflected, large, cordiform, with a furrow on the top. The 

 antennae are filiform, black, shorter than the body, with the first 

 joint larger than the others. The thorax is small, glossy, nearly 

 cordate, with a slight dorsal channel, and the anterior margin 

 tubercled on either side. The elytra are soft, elongate, linear, the 

 sides somewhat inflexed ; the back convex, minutely rugose, marked 

 with two elevated longitudinal lines or ridges, and covering brown 

 membranous wings. The abdomen is terminated by two small 

 callous sharp spines ; and the legs and feet, like the rest of the 

 body, of a brilliant gold or emerald green colour. — Fig. (a) repre- 

 sents one of the antennae ; (b) the maxillae, &c. (c) palpi. 



The female lays a mass of small eggs of a cylindrical form, flat- 

 tened at the extremities, from which the larvae make their appear- 

 ance in about fifteen days. They are of a yellowish-white colour, 

 beset with short hairs, two of which, longer than the others, are 

 placed at the anus. The head is rounded, furnished with two little 

 antennae, arched and pointed. The body consists of twelve seg- 

 ments, of which the three anterior have each a pair of feet. The 

 larvae are said to live in the ground, and feed upon roots ; in this 

 situation they undergo their metamorphosis. 



These insects are gathered by shaking the trees on which they 

 are found and catching them on a cloth spread beneath. They are 

 then killed by the steams of boiling vinegar, aud dried either in the 

 sun or in stores. Cantharides, when properly dried and kept in 

 close stopped glass bottles, will retain their active qualities for a 

 great length of time ; but they are liable, notwithstanding their 



