FAMILY BUPRESTIDAE 217 



The life history of this insect is at present imperfectly known. The 

 beetle appears on the wing towards the end of the hot 



Life History. weather and commencement of the monsoon season, 



the grnbs pupating either just before winter or in 

 March. The grub feeds in the bast layer (the eggs being laid in crevices in 

 the outer bark), eating out here irregularly winding galleries. When full- 

 fed the grub tunnels down into the sapwood, eating out an elongate tunnel 

 more or less parallel to the long axis, as shown in fig. 140. 



Thompson, in alluding to this beetle, says: "A very pretty buprestid 

 was found by me in felled logs in the Kotree Dhoon. The larva, after 

 acquiring maturity, bores into the timber to the depth of from two to three 

 inches, making a diamond-shaped orifice. It then undergoes its meta- 

 morphosis in the pupa state. These beetles sometimes infest trees in vast 

 numbers, rendering the timber unfit for use afterwards." 



I found numerous evidences of the presence of this insect in the 

 Horai Forest (Kumaun) about the middle of May 1908. In some fallen 

 dead sal-trees examined, both boles and branches had been riddled by this 

 beetle, most of the bast layer having been removed, whilst the entrance- 

 holes leading dowai into the pupal chambers were very numerous in 

 the wood (cf. fig. 128). 



The number of life-cycles passed through in the year is unknown. 



Belionota. 

 Belionota prasina, Thunberg. 



{The Mango Buprestid.) 



References.— Thunberg, Nov. Spe. Ins. v, 90 (1789); pyroiis, Illiger, Wiedevi. Arch. Naturg. 

 i, 119, pi. I, fig. 3 (1800) ; scutellaris, Weber, Obs. Ent. 72 (1801); prasina, Kerrem. Atin. Soc. Ent. Belg. 

 xxxvii, 235 (1893). 



Habitat.— Chicacole, Ganjam, Madras. Also reported from Bengal ; 

 Kurseong; Kanara (Bell); Ceylon, Senegal; Zanzibar (Maurice); La 

 Reunion ; Java ; Sumatra. 



Tree Attacked — Mango {Mangifera indica). Chicacole, Ganjam. 



Beetle.— Oblong, elongate. Head bronze, with a median line on 

 vertex, and edges of latter bright green, the lateral stripes stretching down 



on to front. Prothorax olive-green with a coppery 

 Description. reflexion, posterior outer angles brilliant crimson 



or red ; elytra dark green, with at times a coppery 

 or blue reflexion ; under-surface shining-green, with the sides dull bronze. 

 Antf nnae dull bronzy-black ; legs coppery-green. Head very finely and 

 irregularly punctate. Prothorax punctate, punctures denser on sides. 

 Scutellum large, hnely punctate, acuminate behind. Elytra rounded at 

 shoulder, constricted from posterior coxae on a regular curve to apex, p^^, 



the suture produced into a fine spine ; four prominent, but not broad, Belionota prasitm, 

 longitudinal costae, the second and third meeting two-thirds up elytra. Thunberg. 



Length, 20 mm. to 29mm. ; breadth, 7.25 mm. to 10.5 mm. Ganjam, Madras. 



