COLEOPTERA 537 



larvas of one cosmopolitan species, known as the coffee-bean weevil, 

 Arceocerus fasciculdtus, attack seeds of various plants. 



Sixty-two species of this family are known to occur in America 

 irorth of Mexico. 



Family BELID^ 

 The New York Weevil 



The family Belidas is represented in our fauna by a single species, 

 the New York weevil, Ithycerus novehoracensis . This is a large species, 

 measuring from 1 2 mm. to 1 8 mm. in length. It is black, rather sparse- 

 ly clothed with a mixture of ash-gray and pale brown prostrate hairs 

 which give it a black-spotted appearance. The beak is short and broad. 

 The mandibles are prominent, not very stout, and emarginate at the 

 tip, with an inferior cusp. The antennae are not elbowed; the first 

 segment is longer than the second; and the terminal segments form 

 a small, oval club. 



This species breeds in the twigs and tender branches of oak, hick- 

 ory, and possibly other forest trees. The adult beetles appear in early 

 spring, and sometimes do much damage to fruit-trees by eating into 

 buds, and gnawing the tender bark on new growth. They can be 

 caught by jarring them on to sheets or by the use of a plimi-curculio 

 catcher. 



Family CURCULIONIDiE 



The Curculios or Typical Snout-Beetles 



The Curculionidee is a very large family; it is represented in 

 America north of Mexico by more than eighteen hundred species; 

 to it belong four-fifths of all our Rhynchophora. This family includes 

 the typical snout -beetles, the head being prolonged into a well-defined 

 beak, which is usually long and curved downward. 



The family Curculionidse is divided into thirteen subfamilies; 

 but several of these are very small. The seven subfamilies mentioned 

 below will serve to illustrate the more important variations in 

 structure and in habits, and they include the more important species 

 from an economic standpoint. 



The subfamily Rhinomacerin^, or pine-flower snout-beetles, in- 

 cludes a small number of snout-beetles in which the elytra have no fold 

 on the lower surface near the outer edge, and in which the labrum is 

 distinct. The head is prominent, not deflexed; the snout is as long 

 as the prothorax, rather flat, narrowest about the middle, wider at 

 base and tip; the elytra are rounded at the tip, and entirely cover 

 the abdomen. These beetles infest the staminate flowers of coniferous 

 trees, in which the eggs are laid. Six species are found in our fauna. 



The subfamily Rhynchitin^, or toothed-nose snout-beetles, in- 

 cludes snout-beetles in which the elytral fold is feeble, the labrum 

 is wanting, and the mandibles are toothed on both the outer and 

 the inner side. The mandibles can be spread widely, and when closed 

 the outer tooth at the end of each projects forward so that two small, 

 acute teeth seem to project from the mouth. 



