110 NATURAL HISTORY. 



relative species, one of which, found in the West Indies, 

 diffuses a brilliant light. 



The Richard* (buprestis chrysostigma), plate 22, fig. 

 7, is classed among the handsomest beetles. The body is 

 very cylindrical, the head round and received within the 

 thorax, the antennae short ; the length is about five lines, 

 reddish-brown above, golden-green below, under surface 

 and wings red, the latter bordered with purple, the pos- 

 terior portion of the body violet. They are found in 

 oak forests. When menaced with danger, they contract 

 their antennae and legs, and drop upon the ground, with 

 a view, no doubt, to conceal themselves in the adjacent 

 herbage. The smaller buprestides are found on willows, 

 hazel bushes, etc. The largest, which are natives of 

 South America, are extremely beautiful, and present a 

 brilliant surface, glittering, as it were, with an iridescent 

 luster, resembling that of jewels. 



The Common Carpenter Worm (lamia sedilis) is half 

 an inch long, with antennae five times the length of the 

 body. The color is brownish-gray, with paler bands, and 

 four spots of foul yellow on the corselet. It is without 

 wings, and lays its eggs in pine wood prepared for the 

 carpenter, in which the larva forms such deep burrows 

 as frequently to render it altogether useless. 



The Longarmed Carpenter Beetle^ (lamia longimana), 

 one of the largest of the lamiariae, is three inches long, 

 clear olive color, marked with lines of black, light brown, 

 and flame color. The segments of the antennae are very 



* So called on account of the extreme richness of their external 

 covering. It is stated that there are not less than five hundred spe- 

 cies of the genus Buprestis in the Berlin Museum. Tr. 



f By some called the Carpenter's Jack. 



