BUPRESTIS. 
89 
so well that the copy may be sometimes mistaken 
for the reality. This fine insect pro'ceeds from a 
large white larva, much resembling that of "the 
Lucanus Cervus or Great Stag-Ciiaffer, and which 
feeds, according to 'Madam Merian, who has 
fi<nired it in her celebrated work on the Insects of 
O 
Surinam, on the roots of plants of the Convolvulus 
tribe. 
The Biiprestis sternicornis is considerably smaller 
than the former species, and of a thicker' shape: 
it is of the most - brilliant golden-green colour-, 
marked with numerous impressed points, which 
are sometimes whitish: 'the thorax is still brightei'j 
marked above by numerous impressed points, and 
stretched out beneath into a conical process. It j^s 
a native of India. 
The Biiprestis Chrysis of Fabricius is so much 
allied to the sternicornis in shape and size, that it 
has by some been considered rather as a variety 
than truly distinct: it differs however materially 
in the colour of the wing-sheaths, which are of the 
richest reddish chesnut-brown, while the thorax, 
as in the former, is of a brilliant gold-colour, with 
a cast of green. It is a native of India. 
Biiprestis vittata of Fabricius is a species of a 
more slender shape than the two immediately pre- 
ceding, and is of a bright gold-green colour, with 
a broad band of the most brilliant reddish gold- 
colour running down each of the wing-sheaths: 
this also is a native of India. 
The European insects of this genus fall far 
short of the Indian and American species both in 
