364 



NATURAL msTUHY UF ARTUUUPODS. 



F].^ 417. 



Eui'lifiJina ijiijiutttii. 



The faniilv of Bupkestid.*; iiK-hides a large iiuiuber of beetles which .somewhat 

 i-esemble the Elatei-icl;e, but differ from them in not possessing the power of springing 



when j)lac'ed iijion the back, and couseqtieiitly 

 they do not li:ive the prothorax very freely mov- 

 able upon the mesothorax. They also differ from 

 the Elateriihe in having tlie first and second ven- 

 tral seuinents connate. The eleven-jciinted an- 

 tennie of the Ihipri'stida' are almost invariably 

 serrate ; the head is small atid retractile to the 

 eves in tlie protliDra.x ; the jxisterior end of tlie 

 l)odv is t.ipered off to a ])oint ; the ornamentation 

 is usijally with metallic colors, anil the surface is 

 often highly polished. In Poli/bothrh, a genus 



\ found in Aladagascai', the coloration during life 



!*»Y is glistening metallic, which, as in (A(fsi(/(( of the 

 Chrysonielidte, disappears upon the death of the 

 insect. The tropical species of Bujirestidie are 

 often large, EurliCdiiKi <ji</aiite(i from Brazil 

 reaching a length nf •!.''' inches, an<l a bivadth 

 yf over an inch ; the si/.e of the sjiecies becomes 

 graduallv less ii, apprnaching the tem])erate and 

 colder regions. These insects freipient flowers c.r sit upon bark, and are most active 

 in bright sunlight ; upon approach, many kinds fly away with great ra])idit3', others 

 retract their short legs and drojj to the ground, feigning death. 



The larv:e of Buprestidie usually bore ellijitical jiassages in living and dead wood ; 

 a few, like those of TrarJii/f:, mine in leaves, and still fewer (e. //. /h'ji/tiia-ania 

 aarijjua) live in galls, 'i'lie l:ir\a' lia\c a \ cry characteristic form diU' to excessive 

 enlargement and ])artial chitinization of the [irothoracic segnu'nt, into which the liead 

 is retractile. There are \w ocelli and no feet, the latter organs being represente.1 in a 

 few species by little fleshy tnbci'clcs; the autenine are M'ry short and fornu'cl of two 

 or three joints. Lai'val life x.iries in duration ; in I'mrhys iiiiiiiitn. \\\\\v\\ mines wil- 

 low loaves, liudow found two generations yearly; Ferris found th.it many species 

 comjih'teil their metamorpln.scs in :\ year, while Katzeburg states that 

 two years are occujiied in the cycle uf nu't.-nunrphoscs. Pupation 

 takes place in the Imrrows nnulc by tlie larva. 



The small, flattened, ovate, somewhat angular sjiecies of Jirarhi/K 

 are fouml upon leavi's of different jilauts, and their larvic are leaf- 

 miners, like those of the related genus, Tnichijs. B. tess('l/iif<( is only 

 about 0.15 of an inch long, and nearly black in cok>r;ition ; it is found 

 in the eastern United States. B. n rii//i/io.s(U :i species of about the 

 same size, and found in the same region, mines in the leaves of the 

 beech. 



The numerous s]iecics of Ai/rilns are elongated, and li.ave tlu' antenna' free, not 

 received in grooves as in L'nir/ii/s and Ti-dclnjs. Agrihis nificolUs is (piite injurious 

 to ras].berry and blackberry ])alches in the eastern United States. The beetle is 

 narrow, about O.'io of an inch long; its head and thorax is a beautiful coppery bronze, 

 the elytra are black. The larva', which .-u-e about lt..'i of an iiu-h long, .'uid jiale yellow, 

 with a brownish head and black mauilibles, liore about in tin' sap-wood of the black- 



. 41». — Bntcltt/s 

 Irsxillaltl. 



