FAMILY BUPRESTIDAE 



Beetle. Head and prothorax bronzy ; front of head and sides of prothorax fiery red ; 

 latter with a greenish reflexion medianly ; the elytra dark indigo-blue, the base purple, the 



basal half with a coppery-purple re- 

 Description, flexion, the apical half with a greenish- 

 blue one which is specially prominent 



at the apices ; a transverse yellow band crosses each elytron 

 about the centre. Under-surface of pro- and mesothorax fiery 

 red, as are the coxae of the posterior pair of legs. Antennae 

 bronzy violet. Abdominal segments yellow, with a lateral black 

 patch in upper outer angle of each. Head channelled down 

 middle. Prothorax as \\ide as head anteriorly, entirely covering 

 scutellum posteriorly, where it is narrower than the elytra. Elytra 

 constricted from posterior coxae to apex ; latter emarginate with 

 a sutural spine ; the elytral costae are longitudinally parallel and 

 dark-bronze coloured ; the yellow band does not reach the 

 suture on the outer edge. Length, 45.5 mm. to 66.5 mm. ; 

 breadth, 16.5 mm. to 21. 5 mm. 



The above description, which was made at the time from 

 fresh beetles taken by myself in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, 

 differs slightly from that of Gory, the differences being probably 

 due to his specimens being dried ones. My specimens averaged 

 55 mm. in length and 20 mm. in breadth. So far as I am aware, 

 this is the first report of the insect from the Indian region. 



FlG. 130. CatoxantJia 



opitleiita, Gory. 

 Chittagong Hill Tracts. 



The grubs of this beetle feed in the bast and sapwood of, I believe, 

 several species of trees. I have cut out beetles from 



Life History. the pupal chambers in the jarul (Lagerstroinia Flos- 

 Reginae) and chikrassi (Chickrassia tabularis), and 



Mr. A. H. Mee, of the Bengal Provincial Forest Service, took specimens 

 from other two "jungle" trees in the hill tracts, the names of which he 

 did not, unfortunately, record. 



Long, broad, shallow, winding galleries are eaten out by the grubs in 

 the bast and sapwood, the whole of the bast layer being at times riddled 

 by them. The beetles appear on the wing in late May in the Chitta- 

 gong Hill Tracts, at about the period of the bursting of the monsoon. 

 The larvae feed in the tree either till the beginning of December, when 

 they pupate, or they pass through the cold weather in the larval stage, 

 pupating in February or March. 



It is probable that the beetles continue issuing over a period of two or 

 more months, as I think specimens of this insect have been noticed on the 

 wing in July. 



Catoxantha bicolor, Fabr. 



REFERENCES. Fabr. Syst. Ent. App. 825 (1778); var. nigricornis, H. Deyr, Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg. 

 viii, i (1864) ; assamensis, Thoms. Bull. Soc. Ent. Fr. (5), ix, 70 (1870) ; var. cyanura, Kerrem, Ann. Soc. Ent. 

 Belg. xxxvi, 171 (1892); var. gigantea, Scopoli, Ann. Hist. Nat. 104 (1869); Schaller, Act. Acad. Nat. Cur. 

 Halle, 304, pi. i, fig. 5; heros, Wiedmann, Zool. Mag. 99 (1823); var. brunnca, Saunders, Trans. Ent. Soc. 

 Land. 3, pi. i, tig. i (1869). 



Habitat. Rangoon Division, Lower Burma ; Buxa Duars. Also 

 reported from Himalaya; Allahabad, Darjeeling, Kurseong; Mungphu, 



