SUBFAMILY VIII. TAf'HYGONIX.K. !>."> 



Riley (1871, 57) it breeds in the twigs and tender branches of 

 the bur oak, tfm'rcns iii<icro<-<irj><i Michx. ; ]irobably also in those 

 of the pig-nut hickory, Hicoria yl<il>r<i Mill. He states that it 

 does much damage to fruit trees in the spring by gnawing off the 

 render bark of the twigs before the buds have put out, and later 

 in the season by devouring the tender shoots. The female, in 

 ovipositing, first makes a small longitudinal excavation with her 

 jaws, eating upward toward the end of the branch, then turns 

 around and thrusts her egg into it. 



Subfamily VIII. TACHYGONIN/E. 



Very small species, so differing in structure and appearance 

 as to be readily recognized among all other Curculionids. They 

 have the body broadly ovate, subdepressed. usually partly clothed 

 with semi-prostrate hairs and ornamented with tufts of pubes- 

 cence: head small: eyes large, very ' narrowly separated; beak 

 short, broad, and in repose received in a groove between the front 

 coxa 1 ; antenna 1 straight, 11-jointed, inserted near base of beak, 

 the first joint or scape shorter and narrower than second, club 

 elongate-oval, distinctly annulated ; thorax short, much narrower 

 than elytra, which do not cover the pygidinm ; first and second 

 ventral segments very large and connate, third and fourth very 

 short, fifth nearly as long as second, its apex rounded; coxa? 

 all widely separated, the hind ones extremely so, being situated 

 near the side margins of elytra; front and middle legs slender, the 

 tibia- 1 armed with a terminal hook; third tarsal joint widely di- 

 lated, fourth as long as the first, its claws widely separated and 

 appendiculate. The hind legs (Fig. 15) are much longer and 

 stouter than the others, being so modified as to clasp the leaves 

 upon which the insect rests; as they are widely separated, they 

 are capable of being spread far apart, thus giving to the owner a 

 grasping power very great in proportion to its small size. The 

 beetles rest for the most part on the under side of leaves and fall 

 to a lower leaf or to the ground when disturbed. When about to 

 alight they turn back downwards and grasp the leaf with the 

 long curved hind legs.* One genus is known from the United 

 .states, which is represented also in Mexico and South America. 



I. TACHYGOXUS Schon., 1833. (Or., "swift" + "elbowed.") 



To this genus, sufficiently characterized above, belong seven 

 nominal species, four of which have been recorded from the east- 

 ern States. For a synopsis of the species see: 



*Zimmcrmann, Germ. Zeitsch., II, 1840, 155. 



