44 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [February, 



Lintner packardata. The variations are very wide, but are all 

 shown in the set oi populata in the British Museum. 



Cidaria explanata Wlk. 1422, and C. cunigerata Wlk. 1726, 

 are, I think, the same species. In C. explanata the central band 

 is nearly unbroken. 



(To be continued.) 



The typographer-beetle, Bostrichus typographus, is so called on ac- 

 count of a fancied resemblance between the paths it erodes and letters. 

 ,This insect bores into the fir and feeds upon the soft inner bark; and in 

 such vast numbers that 80,000 are sometimes found in a single tree. The 

 ravages of this insect have long been known in Germany under the name 

 of Wurm troekniss — decay caused by worms; and in the old liturgies of 

 that country the animal itself is formally mentioned under its common 

 appellation, The Turk. About the year 1665, this pest was particularly 

 prevalent and caused incalculable mischief In the beginning of the last 

 century it again showed itself in the Hartz forests; it reappeared in 1757, 

 redoubled its injuries in 1769, and arrived at its height in 1783, when the 

 number of trees destroyed by it in the above-mentioned forests alone was 

 calculated at a million and a half, and the whole number of insects at 

 work at once 120,000,000,000. The inhabitants were threatened with a 

 total suspension of the working of their mines for want of fuel. At this 

 period these Bostrichi, when arrived at their perfect state, migrated in 

 swarms like bees into Suabia and Franconia. At length, a succession of 

 cold and moist seasons, between 1784 and 1789, very sensibly diminished 

 the numbers of this scourge. In 1790 it again appeared, however, and 

 so late as 1796 there was great reason to fear for the few fir trees that were 

 left. — Cowan's Curious Facts. 



Many species of Buprestidae are decorated with highly brilliant metallic 

 tints, like polished gold upon an emerald ground, or azure upon a ground 

 of gold; and their elytra, or wing coverings, are employed by the ladies 

 of China, and also of England, for the purpose of embroidering their 

 dresses. The Chinese have also attempted imitations of these insects in 

 bronze, in which they succeed so well that the copy may be sometimes 

 mistaken for the reality. In Ceylon and throughout India, the golden 

 wing-cases of two of this tribe, the Sternocera chrysis and 5". sternicornis, 

 are used to enrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, while the lustrous 

 joints of the legs are strung on silken threads, and form neck-laces and 

 bracelets of singular brilliancy. The Buprestis a/ternata, ocellata and 

 vittata are also wrought into various devices and trinkets by the Indians. 

 The B. vittata is much admired among them. This insect is found in 

 great abundance in China and thence exported into India, where it is dis- 

 tributed at a low price. — Cowan's Curious Facts. 



