COLEOPTERA. — BUPRESTID^. 231 



Dr. Ratzeburg has also published figures of the larva (copied in my 

 fig. 23. 11.) and pupa of AgriJ. nocivus, in his Forst. Insecten, pi. 2., and 

 which nearly correspond with those given by M. Aube. He has also 

 figured the larva (copied in my fig. 23. 10.) of A. fagi, which differs 

 from the former, not only in the large size of the prothorax? and narrow- 

 ness of the body, but (which is more remarkable) in wanting the conical 

 points at the extremity of the abdomen. The structure of its maxillae 

 and labium is also different from M. Aube's figures. 



The insects of this family offer some remarkable peculiarities in 

 their geographical distribution. Thus, at the Cape of Good Hope, is 

 found an extensive group having the elytra ornamented with tufts of 

 white or yellow hairs (G. lulodis Esch.). The conical species abound 

 on the shores of the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Black Seas, and at 

 the Cape. Madagascar produces an extraordinary group, having the 

 body flattened, and of a nearly rounded form ; whilst^ in New Hol- 

 land, the genus Polychroma Dej., and several others, have been ex- 

 clusively discovered. Moreover, as the hottest climates produce the 

 most splendidly coloured animals, the greatest number of the species 

 of Buprestidee (of which there are, probably, not fewer than 1500 

 species contained in the various collections), and the largest and most 

 richly coloured species are found in the tropical and subtropical regions 

 of both hemispheres ; whilst, in the northern states, but few species 

 occur, and in England scarcely more than a dozen species, of small 

 size, are strictly indigenous. The largest species in the family are 

 the B. bicolor (G. Catoxantha Dej. Java) and B. gigantea* (G. Stig- 

 modera Esch., Euchroma Sol. Brazil), and these do not exceed two and 

 a half inches in length. 



Latreillehas recently proposed to divide this family into two sections, 

 from the proximity or remoteness of the antenna; at the base ; whilst 

 M. Solier, followed by Messrs. Gory and Laporte, has founded his 

 divisions upon the absence or presence of a scutellum, the form of 

 that organ, and the insertion of the legs, employing the parts of the 

 mouth for his generic characters. 



Hitherto four genera only have been introduced into the British 

 catalogues ; the number is, however, much increased by the addition 



* Mr. Kirby regards Buprestis gigas as the " original type of the genus," and 

 consocjiiently as entitled to retain the generic name Buprestis, which is entirely 

 omitted in the recent works of Solier, Dejean, Gory, and Laporte. 



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