40 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



call them ric/iards, on account of the rich and brilliant colors 

 wherewith many of them are adorned. The Buprestians, then, 

 according to the Linnaean application or rather misapplication 

 of the name, are hard-shelled beetles, often brilliantly colored, 

 of an elliptical or oblong oval form, obtuse before, tapering 

 behind, and broader than thick, so that, when cut in two trans- 

 versely, the section is oval. The head is . sunk to the eyes in 

 the fore part of the thorax ; and the antennae are rather short, 

 and notcl;^d on one side like the teeth of a saw. The thorax 

 is broadest behind, and usually fits very closely to the shoulders 

 of the wing-covers. The legs are rather short, and the feet are 

 formed for standing firmly, rather than for rapid motion ; the 

 soles being composed of four rather wide joints, covered with 

 little spongy cushions beneath, and terminated by a fifth joint, 

 which is armed with two claws. Most beetles, as already 

 stated, have a little triangular piece, called the scutel, wedged 

 between the bases of the wing-covers and the hinder part of 

 the thorax, commonly of a triangular or semicircular form, and 

 in the greater number of coleopterous insects quite conspicu- 

 ous ; in the Buprestians, however, the scutel is generally very 

 small, and sometimes hardly perceptible. These beetles are 

 frequently seen on the trunks and limbs of trees basking in the 

 sun. They walk slowly, and, at the approach of danger, fold 

 up their legs and antennae and fall to the ground. Being 

 furnished with ample wings, their flight is swift and attended 

 with a whizzing noise. They keep concealed in the night, 

 and are in motion only during the day. 



The larvae are wood-eaters or borers. Our forests and 

 orchards are more or less subject to their attacks, especially 

 after the trees have passed their prime. The transformations 

 of these insects take place in the trunks and limbs of trees. 

 The larvffi that are known to me have a close resemblance to 

 each other; a general idea of them can be formed from a 

 description of that which attacks the pig-nut hickory. It is of 

 a yellowish white color, very long, narrow, and depressed in 

 form, but abruptly widened near the anterior extremity. The 

 head is brownish, small, and sunk in the fore part of the first 

 segment; the upper jaws are provided with three teeth, and 



