Ofi INSECTS A.BROAD. 



In these insects the most striking point is the colour ot 

 the jaws. Generally among Beetles, however brilliantly the 

 head, body, and elytra may be coloured, the jaws are either 

 brown or black, whereas in these Beetles the jaws are not only 

 as vividly coloured as the rest of the body, but in some cases 

 are even of brighter and more conspicuous hues. Such is the 

 ease with the present insect, the jaws of which are shining 

 coppery red, very deeply punctured, and their basal parts are 

 black covered with rich golden down. 



The thorax is gold-green, covered with large punctures, and 

 having a large deep pil near each of the hinder angles. It 

 examined with a moderately powerful lens, it is seen that the 

 spaces between the large punctures are rilled with innumerable 

 tiny punctures, much too minute to be detected by the unaided 

 eye. It is to these multitudinous punctures that the peculiar 

 gloss of the surface is due. 



The elytra are also gold-green, with a wash of coppery red, 

 and at the shoulder of each elytron there is a large shallow pit. 

 Like the thorax, the elytra are boldly punctured, but the lens 

 shows that the whole of the surface is covered with the minul 

 imaginable furrows, drawn as if with a needle's point, from one 

 puncture to another, in a sort of irregular pattern. The colour 

 of the under surface is nearly the same as that of the upper. 



There are many species of this genus, which seems to be re- 

 stricted to Aust ralia. They are of all colours — azure blue, coppery 

 red, emerald green, dark green, gold bronze, &c; so that a collec- 

 tion of them is at first sight absolutely dazzling to the eyes. 

 Not only does the colour thus vary, but, even in each species 

 there is considerable variation in colours, so that in describin"- 

 them it is necessary to select the average colouring of the species 

 generally, and not that oi any individual specimen. The name 

 of Lamprima is taken from the Greek, and signifies anyone 

 that is adorned witli gorgeous clothing, so that it is a very appro- 

 priate title for so brilliant a genus. The name of awratus, or 

 Med," which is given to the species, alludes to the conspicuous 

 -olden gloss which plays over the green surface as the light 

 changes. 



Next come the Lucanides, or true stag Beetles, of which our 

 common British Stag Beetle is so familiar an example. One of 



