42 



ORDER I. Caffida. 



Genus IX. Cassida, the Tortoise 



Beetle. 



Linn. Syft. Nat. page 574. 



The antennae of the Caffida are nearly 

 filiform, but grow fomewhat thicker to- 

 wards the end. 



The elytra have a broad margin. 



The head is entirely concealed under 

 the thorax. 



The thorax is flat and margined, form- 

 ing a kind of fhield for the head. 



The infect called the Green Tortoife Beetle, 

 belongs to this genus. 



The larvae of the Caffida eat the under fide of 

 the leaves of plants, and often, as it were, hide 

 themfelves under a cover of their own excre- 

 ments, fupported in the air above their bodies, 

 by means of their forked tail. 



Schasffer and Geoffroy have adopted this genus 

 without any alterations. The latter obferves* 

 that the antennas are nodofa knotty, or corrH 

 pofed of large articulations. Scopoli has refer- 

 red to it the Lampyrides Noftiluca and Sanguis 



3 Wk 



