46 COLEOPTEEA. 



the French, with greater propriety, call them ricliards, on 

 account of the rich and brilliant colors wherewith many of 

 them are adorned. The Buprestians, then, according to the 

 Linnsean application, or rather misapplication, of the name, 

 are hard-shelled beetles, often brilliantly colored, of an ellip- 

 tical or oblong oval form, obtuse before, tapering behind, and 

 broader than thick, so that, when cut in two transversely, the 

 section is oval. The head is sunk to the eyes in the fore part 

 of the thorax ; and the antennas are rather short, and notched 

 on one side like the teeth of a saw. The thorax is broadest 

 behind, and usually fits very closely to the shoulders of the 

 wing-covers. The legs are rather short, and the feet are 

 formed for standing firmly, rather than for rapid motion ; the 

 soles being composed of four rather wide joints, covered with 

 little spongy cushions beneath, and terminated by a fifth joint, 

 which is armed with two claws. Most beetles, as already 

 stated, have a little triangular piece, called the scutel, wedged 

 between the bases of the wing-covers and the hinder part of 

 the thorax, commonly of a triangular or semicircular form, and 

 in the greater number of coleopterous insects quite conspicu- 

 ous ; in the Buprestians, however, the scutel is generally 

 very small, and sometimes hardly perceptible. These beetles 

 are frequently seen on the trunks and limbs of trees basking 

 in the sun. They walk slowly, and, at the approach of 

 danger, fold up their legs and antennas and fall to the ground. 

 Being furnished with ample wings, their flight is swift, and 

 attended with a whizzing noise. They keep concealed in 

 the night, and are in motion only during the day. 



The larvae are wood-eaters or borers. Our forests and 

 orchards are more or less subject to their attacks, especially 

 after the trees have passed their prime. The transforma- 

 tions of these insects take place in the trunks and limbs of 

 trees. The larvas that are known to me have a close 

 resemblance to each other ; a general idea of them can be 

 formed from a description of that which attacks the pig-nut 

 hickory (Fig. 21). It is of a yellowish- white color, very 



