446 SYNOPTIC COLLECTION. 



reason doubtless has grown remarkably long in some spe- 

 cies. 



The elytra are more chitinous than in most beetles, 

 being so hard that it is difficult to thrust an insect 

 pin through them. They are sometimes furnished with 

 scales, as in the diamond weevil, Entimus imperialis, 

 for instance, which are extremely brilliant microscopic 

 objects. 



Clonus scrophulariae, like, some other weevils, spins 'a 

 cocoon from a secretion of its body. This cocoon is 

 strikingly like the seed capsule of the Scrophularia nodosa, 

 the plant upon which Cionus feeds, and it is usually fas- 

 tened to a pedicel of the seed pod. 



The chestnut weevil, Balaninus proboscidens Fabr. 

 (formerly B. caryatrypes Bohm.), (No. 1131) is excep- 

 tional among insects owing to the fact that its mandibles 

 are vertical instead of horizontal. Its proboscis is also 

 longer than in other weevils, often being in the female 

 twice the length of the body. It is used for piercing the 

 burr and the husk of the chestnut when both are young. 

 One or more eggs are then laid in the nut and the small 

 puncture soon heals. The footless larva feeds upon the 

 chestnut until ready to pupate, when it leaves the nut and 

 enters the ground. 



Order 1 1. NEUROPTERA. 



The Neuroptera includes insects which have Thysanu- 

 riform larval characters, although combined with these 

 characters are many peculiar modifications of structure 

 that ally the insects with the more specialized order, the 

 Lepidoptera. 



The larva of Corydalus cornutus Linn. (No. 1132), of 

 the family Sialidae, has the elongated body, the distinct 

 and freely movable thoracic and abdominal segments, 

 and the three pairs of well developed legs of the Thysa- 



