76 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Voi. xxvi. 



tion for the many new species and sub-species described and have 

 taken the liberty of placing his forms in synonymy when no good 

 character could be found to warrant the erection of a species or inter- 

 polation of a new name. 



" The Buprestis of the ancients, as its name signifies in Greek, 

 was a poisonous insect which being swallowed with grass by grazing 

 cattle, produced a violent inflammation, and such a degree of swelling 

 as to cause the cattle to burst" (Harris). Linnaeus applied this name 

 to the family in spite of the fact that none of its members is poison- 

 ous and they are rarely if ever taken on grass. The name "burn- 

 cow" has been applied to them by certain English writers, and the 

 French named them " richards " on account of the brilliancy and 

 richness of their colors. The native chieftains in South America 

 evidently admired the colors of some species of Buprestidse, inasmuch 

 as the elytra of Etichroma gigantca were used by them as leg orna- 

 ments, a large number being strung so as to form a circlet (Sharp). 



In Europe, some species of wasps are known to store their nests 

 with Buprestidje. Dufour unearthed in a single field, thirty nests of 

 Ccrceris bupresticida which were filled with several species of Bu- 

 prestis^ comprising 400 individuals and none of any other genus 

 (Packard). In a fascinating account of the habits of Cerccris 

 bupresticida, Fabre quoting Dufour mentions Buprestis octogutta, B. 

 tarda, B. bifasciata, B. pruni, B. biguttata, B. inicans. B. flavomac- 

 idata, B. clirysostigma, B. novcm-maculata as being dug from the 

 cells of this wasp and states that the cleanliness and freshness of the 

 beetles which she buries testify that they are seized just as they 

 emerge from their wooden galleries. 



In fossil forms, the family Buprestidce is rich, no less than 28 per 

 cent, of the Mesozoic beetles found by Heer in Switzerland being 

 referred to this family (Shaip). In Scudder's "Fossil Insects of 

 North America," three Tertiary species of Buprestis are mentioned, 

 Buprestis tertiaria Scudd., B. saxigena Scudd., and B. sepidta Scudd.. 

 from " Nicola River, below main coal seam, British Columbia," all 

 being represented of course by elytra or fragments of elytra. Scudder 

 states that all " agree closely together but do not seem to be plainly 

 referable to any recent American genus, although approaching nearest 

 Buprestis " and that " they seem to be nearly related also to the 



2 Certain species mentioned by Dufour have since been placed in closely 

 related genera and a few in synonymy. 



