44- Mr. Kirbt on Herbst's Genus Apion. 



shining, black with a very slight aeneous tinge, taken together 

 they are subglobose, extremely convex, vaulted, and almost 

 gibbous, with furrows deeper than those of Apion assrmile ; in 

 every other respect it is the counterpart of that species. 



Having said what appeared to me necessary to prove that 

 these are distinct species, I shall confine myself in what I have 

 further to observe, to the one last described, Apion flavifemor at urn y 

 which is by far the most interesting of all, on account of the loss 

 which it occasions to the agriculturist by the havoc it fre- 

 quently makes in his crops of clover-seed ; for the account of 

 which, and of the history. and ceconomy of this insect, I must 

 refer the reader to the ingenious letters- of Messrs. Markwick 

 and Lehmann contained in the 6th volume of the Linnean So- 

 ciety's Transactions*; and next proceed to inquire whether this 

 has a better claim to be considered as the Curc.Trifolii of Linne, 

 than Apion Malvarum. I must observe that my specimens iden- 

 tify with those sent me by Mr. Markwick as his insect. 



The principal reason for regarding Apion flavifemor at tun as 

 Cure. Trifolii, is taken from both of them feeding upon a species 

 of the genus Trifolium; but this circumstance, although it may 

 furnish considerable presumptive evidence, is by no means a po- 

 sitive proof that they are synonymous ; for we must recollect 

 that Linne s insect feeds upon T. montanum, which is not a na- 

 tive of Great Britain, whereas ours is confined to T. pratense, 

 attacking no other species : now since, as we have seen above r 

 both 1\ repens and T. ochroleucum supply each a peculiar species 

 with food, so probably may T. montanum : therefore, before we 

 can be clear as to the identity of the two insects, we must com- 

 pare ours with Linn6 J s description of his : in this there are two 

 circumstances that will not well accord with Apion flavifemor a- 



* P. 142—150. 



turn 



