THE "SKIPJACKS" AND THEIR ALLIES. 127 



The BUPRESTID^; have the antennae short, serrated, 

 and inserted in cavities ; the head buried in the thorax 

 up to the eyes, which are large, and vertically oblong ; 

 the mouth on the lower side of the head ; the labrum 

 small : the ligula often hidden behind the mentum ; two 

 fringed, lamelliforrn, toothless lobes to the maxillae ; the 

 mandibles short and strong; the thorax not produced 

 into spines at the hinder angles ; the front and middle 

 coxae globose, forming conspicuous cups for the trochan- 

 ters, and the posterior coxae lamelliform, with small tro- 

 chanters ; the tibiae always armed with short spurs at 

 the apex ; the four first joints of the tarsi with mem- 

 braneous plates on the under side ; the two first ventral 

 segments of the abdomen soldered together; and the 

 prosternum ending in a flat projection, received and fixed 

 into a sternal cavity, which in Anthaxia and its allies is 

 formed by the meso- and meta-sternum, and in Agrilus 

 and Trachys almost entirely by the latter. 



In certain species there are one or two more or less 

 retractile additional segments to the abdomen, attached 

 to the generative organs. 



They are remarkable for their hard integuments, me- 

 tallic colour, and rigidity of body ; and are usually cy- 

 lindrical, elongate and somewhat depressed, Trachys 

 only being short and " dumpy." 



The parts of the mouth are small, and present but 

 little assistance in classification; but the conspicuous 

 development of certain pores in their antennae (first 

 pointed out by Erichson, and considered by him as ol- 

 factory channels) has been made use of by Lacordaire 

 in separating the different tribes and groups of this (ex- 

 otically) extensive family. These pores, which are not 

 found on all the joints, appear to be invisible in the 



