BUPRESTIS. 8$ 



so well that the copy may be sometimes mistaken 

 for the reality. This fine insect proceeds from a 

 large white larva, much resembling that of the 

 Lucanus Cervus or Great Stag-Chaffer, and which 

 feeds, according to Madam Merian, who has 

 figured it in her celebrated work on the Insects of 

 Surinam, on the roots of plants of the Convolvulus 

 tribe. 



The Buprestis stermcornis is considerably smaller 

 than the former species, and of a thicker shape; 

 it is of the most brilliant golden-green colour, 

 marked with numerous impressed points, which 

 are sometimes whitish: the thorax is still brighter, 

 marked above by numerous impressed points, and 

 stretched out beneath into a conical process. It is 

 a native of India. 



The Buprestis Chrysis of Fabricius is so much 

 allied to the sternicornis in shape and size, that it 

 has by some been considered rather as a variety 

 than truly distinct: it differs however materially 

 in the colour of the wing-sheaths, which are of the 

 richest reddish chesnut-brown, while the thorax, 

 as in the former, is of a brilliant gold-colour, with 

 a cast of green. It is a native of India. 



Buprestis vittata of Fabricius is a species of a 

 more slender shape than the two immediately pre- 

 ceding, and is of a bright gold-green colour, with 

 a bread band of the most brilliant reddish gold- 

 colour running down each of the wing-sheaths: 

 this also is a native of India. 



The European" insects of this genus fall far 

 short of the Indian and American species both in 



