of the Family Buprestidse. 255 



Polycesta depressa, Linn. 



The type of this species is in the Linnean collection at the 

 Linnean Society of London. The thorax is dark metallic 

 green shaded with coppery, very acutely angulated at the sides 

 behind the middle, the disk with a large, shallow, strongly 

 puDctured impression. The elytra are brownish coppery, 

 with the sutural area and lateral costse green and shining. 



Polycesta karakara, Chevr. 



The type of this species is in the Museum. Mr. Saunders 

 in his Catalogue considered this a variety of depressa, but I 

 am inclined to give it specific rank. It is a much more 

 brilliant insect, more elongate^ with the elytra more acumi- 

 nate ; the punctuation of the elytra is coarser and rather 

 less regular. 



Polycesta porcata, Lap., nee Fabr. 



This species is described from Guadaloupe. The fi<i:ure 

 rejn-esents it as a brightly coloured insect ; the abdomen is 

 said to be blue. 



In M. Oberthiir's collection there is a specimen labelled 

 Guadaloupe from Laporte's collection which has the abdomen 

 bright blue. It is the only specimen that I have ever seen 

 with a blue abdomen, and I suggest that it is almost certainly 

 the specimen described by Laporte as porcata. It is a colour 

 variety of karakara. The specimens in JM. Oberthiir's collec- 

 tion labelled P. porcata, L. & G., type, are, from the locality- 

 labels and description, evidently not the species described by 

 Laporte ; they are P. depressa, L. 



Polycesta depressa, Oliv., nee \jmw.=^Olivieri, n. n. 



This species is said to be in the British Museum, and 

 there is in the Museum a very old specimen bearing the 

 name depressa which 1 believe is certainly that mentioned 

 by Olivier. It is a broad insect, very flat dorsally, of a 

 somewhat dull brownish coppery, with obscure green in 

 parts. It has all the costte of the elytra well marked, i. e. 

 each elytron has six dorsal costas, the second and fourth only 

 slightly more elevated than the others. 



The old specimens in the Museum are without locality, 

 but recent examples in the Museum and in M. Oberthiir's 

 collection are from Jamaica. 



