Mr. Kirby on Herbst's Genus Apion. % 



hope that I may render some small service to entomology, if I 

 offer to the Linnean Society a few observations upon this diffi- 

 cult genus or family, accompanied by more elaborate descrip- 

 tions than have yet been given of such of the species as I am 

 acquainted with ; for it has been the fate of the smaller and less 

 conspicuous insects, to be described, generally speaking, with 

 less care and minuteness than the larger, or those that are di- 

 stinguished by more prominent features ; whereas, in fact, the 

 former, that they may not be confounded with their affinities, 

 stand most in need of having all their peculiarities noticed : on 

 this account, and to prevent future mistakes, I have described 

 anew all the species that have come under my eye. 



In general, these insects are distinguished by a slender subcy- 

 hndrical rostrum; which, when unemployed, is not pressed close 

 to the breast between the fore-legs, as is the case with many ge- 

 nuine curculios* but stretches out from the head, or is porrect 

 (if I may employ such a term) and arching downwards: their 

 antennae are not broken, as in the cognate genus just mentioned, 

 but entire ; and terminate in a lanceolate knob, consisting of 

 three closely joined and scarcely visible articulations; the thorax 

 inclines to the figure of a truncate cone, but now and then it is 

 rather spherical, and often nearly cylindrical ; and the abdomen 

 is more or less ovate; so that the whole insect, in shape, bears 

 considerable resemblance to a pear, the rostrum being regarded 

 as the stalk. 



More particularly, the species afford to the describer the fol- 

 lowing circumstances for distinctive characters : — 



The Rostrum is either shorter than the head and thorax taken 

 together, of the same length, or longer; and with respect to this 

 circumstance I term it— Rostrum brevius, mediocre, lojigius : its 

 * e. g. Rhynchaenus Fair. Syst. Eleuth. ii, 



B 2 thickness 



