234 MANDIBULATA. COLEOPTERA. 



Subsection III. 



Corresponds with the Sternoxi of Latreille, and is nearly thus characterized by 

 him : — Antenna eleven-jointed, filiform, rarely thickened exteriorly, pectinated, 

 serrated, or with the articulations towards the apex produced above into 

 denticulations : sternum mucronated, the apex of the mucro received into a 

 cavity in the middle : body often elliptic, conic, or trigonate: thorax with the 

 posterior angles produced into an acute spiniform process : head short, deeply 

 inserted in the thorax : elytra broad, elongate : legs short, capable of being 

 closely applied to the body. 



The insects of this most natural section subsist in their perfect 

 state upon vegetable substances, some destroying the ligneous par- 

 ticles of trees, and others living upon the leaves or juices thereof. 

 The two families contained therein may be thus concisely distin- 

 guished : 



Mandibitlcc 



integras: ... 32. BuprestiDjE. 



unidentatae aut subemarginatae : . . 33. ELATERiDiE 



Family XXXII. — Buprestid^e, Leach. 



Antenna eleven-jointed, rather slender, short, filiform or setaceous, more or 

 less serrated or pectinated. Palpi generally filiform, nearly concealed : head 

 retuse, sometimes deeply emarginated : thorax short, broad, occasionally 

 lobate behind ; the posterior angles rarely produced behind : body generally 

 oval, convex, or depressed, more or less triangular or conic, sometimes 

 cylindric, linear-elongate, attenuated towards the apex : legs short, the four 

 basal joints of the tarsi broad, the fourth frequently bilobed : claws simple. 

 Females with a trilamellated ovipositor. 



Like the Cetonidse, the insects of this family are of brilliant and 

 lively hues, and amongst the exotic species are some of the most 

 splendid known insects; but few of the indigenous ones are re- 

 markable for the beauty of their colours : their larvse reside in and 

 subsist upon wood : the imago is found generally in hot and dry 

 weather, and flies with great facility and with rapidity, but walks 

 with difficulty : the smaller species are found in flowers, or upon 

 leaves, but the larger ones are generally found in the trunks of 

 trees, or in houses, timber-yards, &c. 



