68 FIFTH REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 
The beetle. — Like other species of its family, the thick-legged Buprestis is variahle 
in rise, measuring from four to five tenths of an inch in length and about two-thirds 
in width. It is of a black or grei nish-black color, polished and shining, with the 
■nrfmoc rongfa and uneven. The bend, and lometimee the thorax, and the depressed 
portions of the elytra are of a dull coppery color. The head is sunk into the thorax 
to the eyes, li densely pnnctared, and Is clothed in front with line white hairs, which 
are directed downwards. Upon the middle of the top of the head is a smooth raised 
black line with a narrow Impressed line through its middle, a mark which serves to 
distinguish this from some of the other species which are closely related to it. The 
thorax is much more broad than long, and is widest forward of the middle. Its sur- 
face is covered with dense, coarsish punctures, which run into each other in a some- 
what transverse direction. It is also somewhat uneven, with slight elevations and 
hollows, but has not two smooth raised lines on its middle and anterior part, which 
are met with in another species very similar to this, the tooth-legged snapping- 
beetle (Chryaobotktii dentipes Qermta). The elytra or wing-covers present a much 
more rough and unequal surface than any other part of the insect. Three smooth and 
polished raised lines extend lengthwise of each wing-cover, and the intervals between 
them are in places occupied by smaller raised lines, which form a kind of net-work, 
and two impressed transverse spots may also be discerned, more or less distinctly, 
dividing each wing-cover into three nearly equal portions. These spots reach from 
the iuner one of the three raised lines nearly to the outer margin, crossing the two 
other raised lines and interrupting them more or less. They are commonly of a 
cupreous tinge, and densely punctured, but are smoother than the other portions of 
the surface. A smaller and more deeply impressed spot may commonly be found in 
the space next to the suture and forward of the anterior spot, of which it is, as it were, 
a continuation. The wing-covers are rounded at their tips, so as to present a slight 
notch at the suture when they are closed, and the outer margin towards the tip has 
several very minute projecting teeth. When the wing-covers are parted the back 
is discovered to be of a brilliant bluish-green color and thickly punctured, with a 
row of large impressed spots along the middle, one on each segment, and half way 
between these and the outer margin is another row of smaller impressed dots, having 
their centers black. The underside of the body and the legs are brilliant coppery, 
the feet being deep shining green, their last joint and the hooks at its end black. 
Here also the surface is everywhere thickly punctured, the punctures on the venter or 
hind part of the body opening backwards. The last segment has an elevated line in 
the middle at its base, and its apex is cut off by a straight line, in the middle of which 
is commonly a small projecting tooth. The anterior thighs are remarkably large, 
from which circumstance this species has received its name, and they have an angu- 
lar projection on their inner sides, beyond the middle. The tibia, 1 , or shanks, of these 
legs are slightly curved. (Fitch.) 
Remedies. — Under this bead we extract the following suggestions 
from Fitch : 
The remedies for destroying this borer must necessarily be much the same with 
those already stated for the common borer or striped Saperda. They consist essen- 
tially of three measures: First, coating or impregnating the bark with some sub- 
stance repulsive to the insect; second, destroying the beetle by hand-picking; and, 
third, destroying the larva by cutting into and extracting it from its burrow. 
As it is during the month of June and forepart of July that the beetle frequents 
the trees for the purpose of depositing its eggs in the bark, it is probable that white- 
washing the trunk and large limbs or rubbiug them over with soft soap early in 
June will secure them from molestation from this enemy. And in districts where this 
borer is known to infest the apple trees the trees should be repeatedly inspected dur- 
ing this part of the year, and any of these beetles that are found upon them should 
be captured and destroyed. It is at midday of warm, sunshiny days that the search 
