ELATER AURATUS. Cyaneo aut viridi-nitidus subtus cupreus, elytris
acuminatis. (Long. Corp. 1 unc. 9 lin.)
SYN. Elater auratus, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2. (1773). _Linn. Syst. Nat._
(_Gmel._) 1. iv. 19. 14.
Elater fulgens, _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ 1. 11. _p._ 220. 22. 17. (1792.)
_Syst. Eleuth._ II. 226. _Oliv. Ent._ 2. 31. 12. _t._ 4. _f._ 43.
_Herbst. Col._ ix. _p._ 343. _t._ 158. _f._ 12.
HABITAT: China.
Head green. Antennæ black, and shorter than the thorax; having at each
joint some short hairs. Thorax green, and margined, appearing as if
finely polished; the hinder corners being pointed, and forming obtuse
angles. Scutellum round and shining. Elytra likewise green, shining, and
margined; their extremities terminating in two sharp points. Under side
shining green, except the tarsi, which are black.
This beautiful insect may be regarded as the most brilliant species
belonging to the family, Elateridæ, the majority of which are of dull and
uniform colours, thus affording a strong contrast to the splendid family of
Buprestidæ, to which they are very nearly allied. The family Elateridæ are
all, as Drury observes, provided with an instrument which extends along the
breast, about the thickness of the thighs, to the abdomen, where the end of
it is received into a groove, forming a spring, by which the creature, when
laid on its back, can jump to a considerable height, from which
circumstance it has received the name of Elater.