BEETLES. 43 



Family I. — Buprestidm. 



Hinder projection of the prosternum not fitting into a cavity in 

 front of the mesosternum ; hinder angles of the thorax obtuse or 

 rectangular, never produced into spines ; antennae short, filiform, or 

 serrated; eyes ovalj body not fitted for leaping; larvse wood- 

 feeders. 



The BuprestidcB are not remarkable for their peculiar forms or 

 gigantic size, but for the brilliancy of their colours. They are 

 poorly represented by a few small and insignificant species in 

 Northern Europe, but are very numerous in tropical climates. 

 They are quite harmless, and Linn6 has incorrectly applied the 

 classical name of Buprestis to them, as that designated an insect 

 which destroyed cattle if they swallowed it. This may possibly 

 have been a species of Mylahris. 



The genus Sternocera, Esch., includes large species peculiar to 

 the East Indies and Africa ; the thorax is deeply punctured. 

 aS'. Castanea, Oliv., from West Africa, is black, with reddish 

 depressed spots on the thorax, and chestnut-brown elytra. 



Julodis, Esch., is remarkable for being covered with short tufts 

 of bristles ; the species are found in all parts of Africa and 

 Western Asia; there are also a few in the extreme south of 

 Europe, and in India. /. Cirrosa, Schonh., from the Cape, is 

 black, with yellow tufts. 



Some of the largest species of the Bnprestidce belong to the 

 genus Catoxantha, Sol. C. Bicolor, Fabr., is of a brassy green, 

 with a reddish spot on each elytron ; in other species, as in 

 C. Ojmlenta, Gory, this mark is white. Chrysochroa, Sol., is 

 another very beautiful East Indian genus ; all the species are of 

 large size, and of a brilliant green ; in some, as in C. Ocellata, 

 Fabr., there is a large white spot surrounded with blackish on 

 each elytron ; in others, as in C. Vittata, Fabr., the beautiful 

 green elytra are each traversed by a longitudinal stripe of fiery red. 



Bvchroma Gigantea, Linn., is a common Brazilian species about 

 two inches in length ; it is of a dull green, witli reddish reflections. 

 It is one of the largest species of this family. 



But the Buprcstidce are not all of brilliant colours ; the species 

 of Ciqmodis, Esch., a genus almost confined to South Europe and 

 Western Asia, are of a dull black, and rugose ; they measure about 

 an inch in lencrth. 



