53 



spot between the eyes ; the lateral grooves of the thorax are less deep than the medial 

 one, and the sides are perfectly straight. It is a brassy-coloured insect and bright copper- 

 coloured beneath, with the elytra lightly striated and bidentate at the tips. 



Group III— ANTHAXI^. 



Species of small size, usually flattened. Prosternum acutely angulated on the sides 

 behind the coxae, and acute at the tip ; the mesosternura narrowly divided ; the suture 

 separating it from the metasternum distinct ; scutellnm small, rounded, or transverse ; 

 antennal pores placed in foveae at the extremity of the inferior margin of the joints, the 

 front not lobed before the antennae. 



There are but two genera : — 



Mentum, coriaceous in front ; prothorax, sinuate at base Melanophila. 



Mentum, entirely corneous; prothorax, truncate at base . — Anthaxia. 



Melanophila. 



Insects of small size and sombre appearance, most of them being black ; a few, how- 

 ever, have yellow spots on the elytra, which are more or less obscurely indented, thickly 

 punctured, and sometimes spiniform at their extremities. 



M. longipes, Say. This is by far the most active of all the Buprestidae, running and 

 flying with great quickness on bright days in summer. The body is black, not glossy; 

 head minutely punctured, with a channel between the eyes ; antennae nearly as long as 

 the prothorax ; prothorax with a large impression on each side, having its sides rounded 

 and thickly punctured ; scutellum nearly heart-shaped ; elytra rough, with very numer- 

 ous minute granules and large shallow impressions, terminated in a sharp tip. The legs 

 are long and slender. 



Anthaxia. 



A small family of inconspicuous insects remarkable for tbeir sculpture, consisting on 

 the head and thorax of shallow punctures, with the intervening lines forming a fine 

 network. 



A. inoiimta, Randall. Thorax densely and strongly reticulated, much wider than 

 long, with angles at the base, and the edges rounded ; the elytra are uneven and densely 

 gT:'anulated ; they have two decided margins ■ the sides are parallel and abruptly nar- 

 rowed and rounded at the apex ; the colour is black with a tinge of bronze, and shining 

 black beneath ; length 0.2-3. 



Group IV.— CHRYSOBOTHRES. 



Antennae inserted at the inner extremity of two short oblique grooves, by which the 

 front is narrowed ; before these grooves it is again widened, and the anterior margin is 

 emargiuate in an angular form ; the prosternum is acutely angulated on the sides behind 

 the coxae, and acute at the tip ; the mesosternum is larger than usual, and only narrowly 

 divided ; the scutellum acuminate ; the elytra are rounded or sub-angulated at the base, 

 and enter the base of the thorax ; the femora are strongly lobed. The numerous species 

 are of rather broad and of a flattened form, with the elytra impressed in the form of bands 

 or spots ; the sexual differences are in the shape of the anterior or middle tibiae. 



All the species found in Canada of this group belong to the genus Chrysobothris. 

 Many of them are very similar, and difficult to identify. 



C.Harrisii, Hentz. This lovely little species measures 0.30 ; the female is of a beau- 

 tiful metallic green all over ; the male has the legs and the sides of the thorax of a reddish 

 bronze, and a purplish tinge towards the tips of the elytra ; the thorax has a conspicuous 

 furrow down its centre, and is marked with some irregular indentations, which are also 

 found on the finely punctured elytra ; the costae on these latter organs are very indis- 

 tinct, and the outer margins finely serrate. I have taken this at Ottawa in some abund- 

 ance, on white pine saplings, towards the end of June. It is a very agile species. 



