THE GRASS WEEVIL. 383 



diverging elytra descend but a very little way below the thorax. Insects of this genus espe- 

 cially the males, where the elytra are longer than in the other sex are used by unprincipled 

 druggists for the purpose of mixing with the true blister fly, which they resemble sufficiently 

 to deceive an inexperienced eye. In some parts of the world, however, they are always 

 employed in connection with the blister beetle, or even used instead of that insect. The oily 

 matter that is poured from the joints is considered in some countries to be a specific for 

 rheumatism, and is expressed from the insect for medicinal purposes. 



The Oil Beetle's color is dull indigo-blue, and its natural length is not much more than 

 one inch and a quarter. 



A few other insects of this family are rather remarkable in their habits. One of these is 

 the SITARIS, the larva of which is found in the nests of several of the mason bees (AntJwphora 

 and Osmia\ and the general opinion of naturalists is that they feed upon the larvae of those 

 insects. Some, however, think that their only object in this intrusion is to eat the provision 

 of pollen that has been laid up for the young bee. 



The MEAL-WORM, so well known to bird-fanciers as a wholesome diet for nightingales and 

 other birds ; to millers, for its ravages among the grain ; and to sailors, for its depredations 

 among the biscuit, is the larva of a beetle named Tenebrio molitor, the former word being given 

 to it in allusion to its love of darkness, and the latter to the damage which it occasions to the 

 miller. This is one of the maggots which have caused sailors to knock the edge of a biscuit 

 upon the table before eating it, an action which in many old voyagers has become so deeply 

 rooted a habit, that they are actually unable to resist the movement. These larvae are terribly 

 sharp-toothed, eating their way through the sides of casks while in search of food. Some 

 species of the same genus have the power of ejecting an acrid fluid to the distance of more 

 than a foot ; the one most remarkable in this respect being a Brazilian insect, Tenebrio grand/is. 



WE now arrive at a vast group of beetles, embracing several thousand species, which are 

 popularly classed under the natce of Weevils, and may ail be known by the peculiar shape 

 and the very elongated snouts. Many of these creatures have their elytra covered with minute 

 but most brilliant scales, arranged in rows, and presenting, when placed under the microscope, 

 a spectacle almost unapproached in splendor. They are mostly slow in their movements, not 

 quick of foot, and many being wholly wingless. 



Many of these creatures are extremely injurious to vegetables, both while growing and 

 when stored up in barns or granaries. Most persons are too familiar with the little maggots 

 that infest peas, and frequently ruin whole pods at a time, each pea containing a single white 

 grub. These are the larvae of the PEA WEEVIL (Bruchus pisi), which feed upon the soft 

 substance of the pea, and make their escape just about the time when the vegetable is suffi- 

 ciently ripe for gathering. One of the CORN WEEVILS (Bruchus granarius], so destructive 

 to grain, also commits great ravages among the peas. One species of this genus inhabits the 

 cocoa-nut, and the creatures are infinitely more abundant in tropical than in temperate climates. 

 It is thought, indeed, that several species of these destructive insects have been imported into 

 Europe in cargoes of grain, and finding the country suitable to their habits, have thriven there. 



Another species of Weevil, the GRASS WEEVIL, or LISETTE (RhyncliUes bacchus) commits 

 terrible devastations among the growing vines, sometimes stripping the bushes of their leaves, 

 which it rolls up and lines with silk. 



The most brilliant of the Weevils are to be found in the typical family Curculionidse, to 

 which belong the well-known Diamond Beetles, in such request as objects for the microscope. 

 Magnificent, however, as are these insects, some of the common little field Weevils, which 

 may be found abundantly on peas, nettles, and other vegetables, yield to them not a single 

 jot, when properly magnified and illuminated, the successive rows of glittering scales with 

 their numerous facets being quite as splendid as the scale-lined pits which cover the elytra of 

 the Diamond Beetle. 



The maggots that are so frequently found in nuts, and which leave so black and bitter a 

 deposit behind them that the person who has unfortunately tasted a maggot-eaten nut is 

 forcibly reminded of the Dead Sea apple, with its inviting exterior and bitter dusty contents. 



