60 DR. HARRIS’S REPORT. April, 
principal part of the body, and is covered above by the wings, which 
are two or four in number, and of various consistence. 
An English Entomologist has stated, that, on an average, there 
are six distinct insects to one plant. This proportion is probably 
too great for our country, where vast tracts are covered with forests, 
and the other original vegetable races still hold possession of the soil. 
There are above 1200 flowering plants in. Massachusetts, and it 
will be within bounds to estimate the species of insects at 4800, 
or in the proportion of four to one plant. To facilitate the study of 
such an immense number, some kind of classification is necessary ; 
it will be useful to adopt one, even in describing the few species 
now before us. ‘The basis of this classification is founded upon the 
number and nature of the organs of flight, and the first great divisions 
are called orders. 
In the order Coleoptera, the upper wings, more generally named 
elytra or wing cases, are coriaceous (leathery) or corneous, (horny): 
the under wings are membranous, and are transversely folded. The 
first noxious insects belonging to this order which I shall describe, 
are named Buprestes. 
Many of these, in their perfect state, are of brilliant or metallic 
colors. Their bodies are compact, firm, hard, of an elliptical 
form, obtuse before, tapering behind, broader than thick, so that, 
when cut in two transversely, the section is oval. Their heads 
are immersed to the eyes in the thorax, their antenne are short and 
serrated on one side or notched like the teeth of a saw. ‘Their feet 
are formed for standing firmly, rather than for rapid motion ; the 
soles being composed of four dilated joints covered with little spongy 
cushions beneath, and terminated by a fifth joint which is armed with 
two claws. They are frequently seen on the trunks and limbs 
of trees basking in the sun. They walk slowly, and at the approach 
of danger contract their feet and fall from their situation. Being 
furnished with ample wings, their flight is swift and attended with a 
whizzing noise. ‘They are not nocturnal insects, and are in motion 
only during the day. 
The larve 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. Their metamorphoses take place in the 
