248 ZOOLOGY. [PART II. 



declines, the moths issue from their retreats, the crickets 

 add their shrill voices to swell the din ; and when dark- 

 ness descends, the eye is charmed with the millions of 

 emerald lamps lighted up by the fire-flies amidst the sur- 

 rounding gloom. 



As yet no attempt has been made to describe the insects 

 of Ceylon systematically, much less to enumerate the pro- 

 digious number of species that abound in every locality. 

 Occasional observers have, from time to time, contributed 

 notices of particular families to the Scientific Associations 

 of Europe, but their papers remain undigested, and the 

 time has not yet arrived for the preparation of an Ento- 

 mology of the island. 



What Darwin remarks of the Coleoptera of Brazil is 

 nearly as applicable to the same order of insects in 

 Ceylon : " The number of minute and obscurely coloured 

 beetles is exceedingly great ; the cabinets of Europe can 

 as yet, with partial exceptions, boast only of the larger 

 species from tropical climates, and it is sufficient to dis- 

 turb the composure of an entomologist to look forward to 

 the future dimensions of a catalogue with any pretensions 

 to completeness." * M. Nietner, a German entomologist, 

 who has spent some years in Ceylon, has recently pub- 

 lished, in one of the local periodicals, a series of papers 

 on the Coleoptera of the island, in which every species 

 introduced is stated to be previously undescribed. 2 



COLEOPTEEA. Buprestidce ; Golden Beetles. In the 

 morning the herbaceous plants, especially on the eastern 

 side of the island, are studded with these gorgeous beetles, 

 whose golden wing-cases 3 are used to enrich the em- 

 broidery of the Indian zenana, whilst the lustrous joints of 

 the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces 

 and bracelets of singular brilliancy. 



These exquisite colours are not confined to one order, 



Nut. Journal, p. 39. I 3 Sternoccra Chrysis ; 8. sterni- 



corns. 



