March 1S91.J 



PSYCHE. 



53 



spicuous upon the margin of the posterior 

 wings upon the upperside, Only those just at 

 the anal angle and the two between the me- 

 dian nervules reappear upon the underside. 

 Of these the two at the anal angle are ob- 

 scure, while those between the median ner- 

 vules are large and very distinct. They 

 are all crowned with red lines and have their 

 black centres irrorated with shining green 

 scales. 



Expanse of wings 28 mm. Type in the 

 collection of the author. 



I have assigned this species in a gen- 



eral way to Lycaena Fabr., feeling un 

 able to refer it to any of the recent 

 subdivisions of the genus instituted by 

 the Indian lepidopterists, without such 

 an examination of the neuration as I do 

 not feel justified in making with only 

 one specimen at my disposal. It is very 

 different in appearance from any othei 

 species of the group known to me, and 

 recalls Pseitdodipsas cephcnes Hew., 

 so far as the coloration of the upperside 

 of the secondaries is concerned. 



ON AN IMPORTANT CHARACTER, 



HITHERTO LITTLE NOTICED, IN THE 



FAMILY BUPRESTIDAE. 



BY FREDERICK BLANCHARD. 



In Comstock's Introduction to Entomology, 

 part i, the many excellencies of which and its 

 fresh treatment of the subject lead us to hope 

 for the early appearance of the succeeding 

 parts, on page 18, there i6 given a figure of the 

 underside of Kuckroma gigantea Linn, in 

 which is shown the antecoxal piece of the me- 

 tasternum, separated by a short transverse su- 

 ture, the ends arcuately bent towards and 

 reaching the hind coxae. This appears to 

 be the first distinct reference to this pecu- 

 liarity of the Buprestidae so far as I can learn. 

 Deyrolle, in his Buprestides de la Malasie, 

 plate 4, figs. 3 and 4 exhibits the same thing, 

 but in fig. 25, illustrating the underside of a 

 species of Pachyscelis, the suture is not indi- 

 cated. There is, however, no reference to the 

 antecoxal piece in the text. 



From the examination of a considerable 

 number of genera in this family during the 

 last few years, both native and foreign, it ap- 

 pears that this structure is always present and 

 is of much greater importance in limiting the 

 family than the connate first and second ven- 

 trals chiefly depended upon heretofore. 



Although the members of the family Bu- 

 prestidae are usually quite easily recognized, 

 some early errors would have been avoided 

 had this character been observed or appreci- 

 ated ; in our own fauna, notably in the case 

 of the genus Schizopus Lee, for the recep- 

 tion of which a distinct family, the Schizo- 

 podidae, was created although afterwards 

 suppressed. 



It need hardly be said that the existence ot 

 an antecoxal piece, seen elsewhere among Co- 

 leoptera, so far as I know, only in the Ade- 

 phaga, where the importance of its existence 

 and of its modifications have been so skilfully 

 demonstrated by Ur. Horn, does not necessa- 

 rily imply any relationship of the Buprestidae 

 to that series, but adds another, and a most 

 impressive one, to the many known instances 

 of the repetition of characters or structures 

 in widely different families, which have been 

 noticed by writers, and especially by Dr. 

 Horn. 



Harrisimemna trisignata — I found two 

 of these grotesque larvae on Spiraea tonie?i- 

 tosa, Sept. 22nd, Northborough, Mass. The 

 only food-plant given by Mr. Edwards is 

 "Svri'nga." The larva bored into bits of 

 rotten wood, and "backed out" with, the 

 chips. These chips were rolled into neat 

 pellets of almost uniform size, very round, 



