60 DR. HARRIS'S REPORT. April, 



principal part of the body, and is covered above by the wings, which 

 are two or four in number, and of various consistence. 



An English Entomologist has slated, that, on an average, there 

 are six distinct insects to one plant. This proportion is probably 

 too great for our country, where vast tracts are covered with forests, 

 and the other original vegetable races still hold possession of the soil. 

 There are above 1200 flowering plants in Massachusetts, and it 

 will be within bounds to estimate the species of insects at 4800, 

 or in the proportion of four to one plant. To facilitate the study of 

 such an immense number, some kind of classification is necessary ; 

 it will be useful lo adopt one, even in describing the few species 

 now before us. The basis of this classification is founded upon the 

 number and nature of the organs of flight, and the first great divisions 

 are called orders. 



In the order Coleoptera^ the upper wings, more generally named 

 elytra or wing cases, are coriaceous (leathery) or corneous, (horny): 

 the under wings are membranous, and are transversely folded. The 

 first noxious insects belonging to this order which I shall describe, 

 are named Buprestes. 



Many of these, in their perfect state, are of brilliant or metallic 

 colors. Their bodies are compact, firm, hard, of an elliptical 

 form, obtuse before, tapering behind, broader than thick, so that, 

 when cut in two transversely, the section is oval. Their heads 

 are immersed to the eyes in the thorax, their antennae are short and 

 serrated on one side or notched like the teeth of a saw. Their feet 

 are formed for standing firmly, rather than for rapid motion ; the 

 soles being composed of four dilated joints covered with little spongy 

 cushions beneath, and terminated by a fifth joint which is armed with 

 two claws. They are frequently seen on the trunks and limbs 

 of trees basking in the sun. They walk slowly, and at the approach 

 of danger contract their feet and fall from their situation. Being 

 furnished with ample wings, their flight is swift and attended with a 

 whizzing noise. They are not nocturnal insects, and are in motion 

 only during the day. 



The larvae are wood-eaters or borers. Our forests and orchards 

 are more or less subject to their attacks, especially after the trees 

 have passed their prime. Their metamorphoses take place in the 



