66 
WEEVIL. 
cololu’; but which, when properly magnified, ex- 
hibit the varying lustre of the most brilliant gems: 
this appearance is owing to innumerable minute 
scales, analogous to those on the wings of butterflies, 
and which, by their polished surface and different 
juxtaposition, produce the admired effect just men- 
tioned: they are of an oblong-oval shape, alike at 
both ends, and not dilated and notched at the tips 
as in the butterfly tribe. Every other part of the 
insect is also decorated with similar scales, but not 
in the form of spots ; and along -the thorax they 
are disposed into parallel, broad, longitudinal 
bands. This species has been faithfully figured 
in the works of Drury, Olivier, &:c. but it is 
utterly impossible for any figure of the natural 
size to convey any idea of more than the general 
appearance of the animal. The engraving annexed 
to the present description exhibits a magnified 
view of the insect, accompanied by one of the 
natural size, as well as by several of the shining 
scales, very highly magnified, in order to shew' 
their particular shape. 
Another species, not greatly inferior in beauty 
to the former, is the Curcullo regalis^ a native of 
New Holland, and which in its general shape and 
ground-colour, bears a near resemblance to the 
preceding, but is decorated wdth large, brilliant, 
gold-coloured patches, dispersed over the wing- 
shells, and which also owe their brilliancy to in- 
numerable golden scales, as in the C. imperialis. 
Nor is our own country destitute of a species of 
almost equal elegance, though far inferior in size 3 
