COLEOPTEROUS INSECTS. 153 



which account they have received the above name. 

 Many of these insects are distinguished by a pecu- 

 liar conformation of the middle portion of the breast, 

 which lies between the two anterior legs, and is pro- 

 perly called the prosternum. It is defined on each 

 side by a longitudinal groove, which sometimes re- 

 ceives the antennae ; the anterior part is dilated and 

 advanced close upon the mouth, while the opposite 

 extremity is prolonged into a point which is ad- 

 mitted into a cavity placed in the hinder part 

 of the breast, a little before the insertion of the 

 middle pair of legs. Such as exhibit a structure of 

 this kind constitute the section Sternoxes, a term 

 which bears reference to the acute process of the 

 breast just alluded to. In other instances the pro- 

 sternum is not dilated below the head, and scarcely 

 ever produced into a spine behind ; and the body, 

 instead of being firm and rigid, as in the species of 

 the former section, is usually of a soft and flexible 

 consistence. The latter circumstance has suggest- 

 ed the name of Malacodermes for this section, a 

 term composed of two Greek words signifying a 

 soft skin. Both of these sections comprehend in- 

 sects of considerable interest, both for their beauty 

 and singular economy, and which require therefore 

 to have some space devoted to their history. 



The Sternoxes are divisible into two well-marked 

 families, corresponding to the genera Buprestis and 

 Elater of Linnaeus. The Buprestidae are most rea- 

 dily distinguished by not having the posterior angles 



