coliae, larvae of
Lamellicorns whose species will be determined by future observation.
Perhaps one of them will be found to give chase to the terrible enemy of
my crops, the voracious White Worm, the grub of the Cockchafer; perhaps
the Hemorrhoidal Scolia, rivalling in size the Garden Scolia and like
her, no doubt, requiring a copious diet, will be entered in the insects'
"Who's Who" as the destroyer of the Pine-chafer, that magnificent
Beetle, flecked with white upon a black or brown ground, who of an
evening, during the summer solstice, browses on the foliage of the
fir-trees. Though unable to speak with certainty or precision, I am
inclined to look upon these devourers of Scarabaeus-grubs as valiant
agricultural auxiliaries.

The Cetonia-larva has figured hitherto only in its quality of a
paralysed victim. We will now consider it in its normal state. With its
convex back and its almost flat ventral surface, the creature is like a
semi-cylinder in shape, fuller in the hinder portion. On the back, each
of the segments, except the last, or anal, segment, puckers into three
thick pads, bristling with stiff, tawny hairs. The anal segment, much
wider than the rest, is rounded at the end and coloured a deep brown by
the contents of the intestine, which show through the translucent skin;
it bristles with hairs like the other segments, but is level, without
pads. On the ventral surface, the segments have no creases; and the
hairs, though abundant, are rather less so than on the back. The legs,
which are quite well-formed, are short and feeble in comparison with
the animal's size. The head has a strong, horny cap for a cranium. The
mandibles are powerful, with bevelled tips and three or four teeth on
the edge of the bevel.

Its mode of locomotion marks it as an idiosyncratic, exceptional,
fantastic creature, having no fellow, that I know of, in the insect
world. Though endowed with legs--a trifle short, it is true, but after
all as good as those of a host of other larvae--it never uses them for
walking. It progresses on its back, always on its back, never otherwise.
By means of wriggling movements and the purchase afforded by the dorsal
bristles, it makes its way belly upwards, with its legs kicking the
empty air. The spectator to whom these topsy-turvy gymnastics are a
novelty thinks at first that the creature must have had a fright of some
sort and that it is struggling as best it can in the face of danger.
He puts it back