THE GOLDSMITH BEETLE (Cotalpa lanigera)

Extract

This is, without doubt, the most beautiful of our leaf-eating beetles. It is nearly an inch in length (fig. 9), of a broad oval form, with the wing cases of a rich yellow color, with a pale metallic lustre, while the top of the head and thorax gleams like burnished gold of a briliant reddish cast. The nnder surface has a polished coppery hue, and is thickly covered with whitish wool ; this latter characteristic having suggested its specific name lanigera (wool-bearer).