BEECH LEAF-MINERS. 519 



9. The beech leaf-miner. 



Brachys aeruginosa Gory. 



Order Coleoptera ; family Buprestid^. 



Dr. Harris has given in his "Treatise'' an account of the larva of 

 Hispa which mines the leaf of the apple tree, eating the pulpy substance 

 between the upper and under surface of the leaf. The in- 

 sect of which we now treat belongs to the family of Bup- 

 restids, several species of which, as we have seen, do much 

 injury to our fruit and shade trees in the grub state. They 

 are footless grubs and recognized by the broad, rounded, 

 flattened segment just behind and partially inclosing the 

 head. The young of Brachys^ etc., depart somewhat from 

 this typical form, owing to their peculiar leaf-mining habits. 

 The first of these is the young of Brachys wruginosa, which 

 has been found by V. T. Chambers, esq., of Covington, Ky., 

 mining the leaves of the beech tree, and I am indebted to 

 him for a specimen of the larva here figured (Fig. 181). 



I may remark here that a closely allied beetle {B. termi- 

 nans) is often to be seen in Maine resting on the leaves of 

 the oak and beech. The beetles of this genus are flattened, 

 angular ovate, and less than a quarter of an inch in length, 

 and the scutellum is small, as Leconte observes, while the 

 shanks (tibiae) are linear. In the succeeding genus, Metonius, Leconte 

 says that the body is triangular, while the scutellum is large, and the 

 shanks are dilated. 



Larva. — The body of the larva is rather long, with the segments very deeply cut, 

 being flattened, and produced laterally into a triangular projection, giving a serrate 

 outline to the body, the teeth being obtusely rounded. The segment next behind 

 the head is the widest, the succeeding segments gradually decreasing in width and 

 increasing slightly in length to the end. The terminal segment is about half as wide 

 as the body in its widest portion, and is somewhat triangular, with the sides parallel, 

 and the tip obtusely pointed. The prothoracic segment or the one next the head is 

 broader than long, and has a fleshy projection on each side at the base of the head. 

 On the upper side of this segment is a large, square, slightly horny area. The head 

 is anteriorly pale honey yellow, with two dark longitudinal parallel lines; the horny 

 portion is about as long as broad, much flattened, subtriangular. The antennae are 

 very minute, slender, three-jointed, with the joints nearly equal in length. The jawa 

 and palpi are so minute that a description will be of no practical use here. The body 

 is finely shagreened, with a few fine scattered hairs. It is whitish, with a slight 

 greenish tinge, and a quarter (.25) of an inch long, and less than a tenth (.07) of an 

 inch broad. It was sent to me alive in September. 



The following insects also occur on the beech : 

 Order Coleoptera. 



10. Bicerca divaricata &aj. (Fitch; and Schaupp in letter; observed 

 by Mr. George Hunt laying its eggs in the bark in July. See 

 also Fitch, Third Eeport, 48.) 



