286 Rev. F. W. Hope on the 



XLI. Blonograph on the Genus Campsosternus of Latreille. 

 By the Rev. F. W. Hope, F.R.S., &c. 



[Read 2d August, 1841.] 



Latreille, in the " Annales" of the Entomological Society of 

 France, first separated Elater fulgens of Fabricius from other 

 Elatcrklce, and applied to it the name of Campsostermis. He 

 appears to have been unacquainted with other species, as no men- 

 tion is made of them, and from his short published characters it 

 might almost be inferred that he hesitated in detaching it from the 

 magazine genus Liidius, unless, perhaps, he intended at a future 

 time more fully to detail them. Of late years our acquaintance 

 with the East Indian forms of insects has greatly increased, and 

 amongst the numerous additions to the Coleoptera of that mag- 

 nificent continent, some Elaters closely allied to fulgens of Fa- 

 bricius have enriched our collections. In my late visit to Paris 

 I observed some undescribed species, and possessing several 

 others of great beauty and metallic splendour, I now describe 

 and submit them to the notice of the Entomological Society. 



Elater contrasted with Buprestts can scarcely pretend to vie with 

 the latter family in metallic splendour, or in the various colouring 

 of the species ; in magnitude, however, Tetralobus surpasses the 

 former. With regard to the distribution of the species of Camp- 

 sosternus, it appears to be altogether an Oriental genus, and is 

 confined almost to China, the East Indies, and the neighbouring 

 islands. In the present monograph fourteen species are de- 

 scribed, and there can scarcely be a doubt that many others, 

 closely allied to those in the following pages, will yet be discovered 

 in the same regions. It is scarcely necessary to add, perhaps, 

 that little is known respecting the larvee of these gigantic insects ; 

 and it is solely with the hope of directing the attention of our 

 English naturalists in the East to these magnificent insects, that T 

 have taken them up at present. Any information respecting 

 their habits is much wanted ; should they turn out upon investi- 

 gation only half as destructive as our wireworms in Europe, their 

 ravages would indeed produce most serious consequences. I am 

 inclined to consider them rather as living on the vegetation of 

 trees and shrubs, than on herbage. This point at present is not 

 satisfactorily ascertained, and any information respecting their 

 larviae and habits (which appear to be unknown) is much desired. 

 In concluding these brief remarks on the genus Campsosternus, 1 



