210 
BRITISH BEETLES. 
(somewhat resembling those of the common seven- 
spot Lady-bird), have a custom of distilling from 
their mouth, tubercles, and apparently all other avail- 
able orifices, a peculiar and strong-smelling yellow 
fluid ; also emitted, though in a less quantity, by the 
perfect insect. 
This fluid, similar, but more intense, in odour to 
that secreted by many Lady-birds, has been stated 
to bo a specific for toothache, if rubbed into the 
gums ; the remedy, however, seems at once so un- 
likely and nauseous, that nothing but the recollection 
of chloroform (originally obtained from an acid pro- 
duced by ants) restrains one from dismissing the idea 
as absurd. 
The pupae of these insects are also spotted, and at- 
tached to leaves and twigs by their tails ; having the 
“mortal coil” of their larva-dom “ shuffled off/’ but 
still clinging to their extremity. 
The oblong species of Gonioctena , — some of which 
are, when alive, bright red with black spots, — are 
found on aspens ; they have a small tooth in the 
middle of their claws, and the tibiae also strongly 
and sharply toothed on the outer side just above the 
apex. 
Gastrophysa, as its namo implies, contains insects 
in which the abdomen is much inflated, — especially in 
the females ; these may be seen crawling slowly on 
pathways in cornfields, or on the common dock, with 
their elytra elevated, and abdominal plates widely 
distended, through the largo mass of eggs with which 
they are loaded. 
The remaining genera, usually found on plants near 
water, demand no comment; except, perhaps, Ph/ra- 
