Bu*pres"ti*dan (?), n. [L. buprestis, Gr. , a poisonous beetle, which, being eaten by cattle in the grass, caused them to swell up and and die; ox, cow + to blow up, swell out.] Zool.
One of a tribe of beetles, of the genus Buprestis and allied genera, usually with brilliant metallic colors. The larvae are usually bores in timber, or beneath bark, and are often very destructive to trees.
© Webster 1913.