TIIK AIlOT.Myl.K! WvJOD-liOU'l X(i I u;!:'!'! ,!•;>. 777 



dill' lii<li;iii;i s|)('('i;'s jirc usiuilly i'oiiiMl iipoii (lt>\vcrs oi- iipini 1li(> 

 t I'll II ks ;i 11(1 limbs oP trees, basic iii'^' in I lie siin-^liiiic. When disliirbcd 

 Ihcy (li'o|) to the ii'i'oiliul and IViuii dcalb. The iiaiiie of llie l\])ieal 

 Jicims. Buprc.sfis, is I'fdiii two Gi'eok wdrds ineaninu' "o\" and "to 

 l)lo\v up or swell." and wa>; applied b_\' the ;uiei(Mits to an insect 

 whose sting caused a swelling in cattle, oi' which being eaten by 

 eattlo in the grass caused them to swell up and die." The name was 

 afterward applied by Tannanis to the meiiibiM-s of the present faiiiil\'. 



Tlie pi-iucipal characters, other than Ihose aI)ove mentioned, 

 wliich (]istinguish the family ai'e the ll-Jointed anteniue inserted 

 upon the front, the outei' joints furnished with pores; head im- 

 mersed in tlu^ ihoi'ax to I he eyc^s ; prosteiiium lU'olonged behind, fit- 

 ting into mesosternum. the latter short, divided into two portions, 

 which comidete the front coxa I cavities; elytra covering the abdo- 

 men or leaving I)ut on(> segnuMit exposinl; abdomen wuth five ventral 

 segments, the first and second united, the others free ; front aiul 

 middle coxa^ globulai-. with distinci tro'-hantin ; hind coxa' trans- 

 verse, concave behind, dilated into a plate ])artially covering the 

 femora; tarsi o-.jointed, the first four joints each with more or less 

 developed membranous lobes beneath. 



The larva^ of the lat'ger Buprestids are wood borers, usually 

 living under the hark of trees which are just beginning to decay, 

 though some of tliem i)enetrate the solid wood. They are some- 

 what flattened in form, wholly destitute of legs, and have the head 

 small and the first two or three thoracic segments very much broad- 

 ened, so as to give the grubs a hammer-like form. For that reason 

 they are known as "hammer heads" or "flat-headed borers," and 

 some of them do much injury to orchar-ds. Their burrows are broad 

 and shallow. corresi)onding with the shape of the larger part of tlu' 

 ])ody. These larger Buprestids are usually the first insects to at- 

 tack trees which have been injured by sun scald, forest fires, or 

 which have otherwise had their vitality weakened. They therefore 

 occupy a position intermediate between the genuine wood borers, 

 the Cerambycida' and Scolytidte. which bore into the solid wood, and 

 those other wood IxM'th^s. like some of the Elaterichv and Lucanidie, 

 Avliich inha])it only wo(»(l and bark in an advanced stage of decay. 



The larva' of some of the smaller Buprestids. notably those of 

 the slendei'-])odied species of Ac/rihis, are shapi'd like the "flat- 

 heads" above mentioned, and inhabit the stems of small trees and 

 shru])s. One of the liest k'liown of these is the "rasi)berry cane 

 borer," whidi causes galls on the stems of blackberry aiul rasp- 

 berry. The larva- of other- small, short-bodied forms, are slender 



