320 TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 



to find a shelter for the egg. One kind attacks the vine and 

 the pear tree. The female insect selects a leaf, cuts the stalk 

 with her beak almost half through, and then rolls the leaf to- 

 gether, and in doing this she is assisted by the male. Having 

 made a symmetrical roll, she cuts into and pierces it with 

 the beak and lays an &^^ in the opening, and then she pushes 

 in the &%^ in such a manner that it remains on the inner side 

 of the leaf Five or six eggs are thus introduced, and the leaf 

 is rolled up in such a way that it is impossible to discover from 

 the outward appearance how the eggs were deposited. 



The Apoderus in the engraving on page 318 is a pretty red 

 insect with a black head, and it rolls up the leaves of nut trees. 

 The Rynchitcs in the same engraving has a violet red tint, and 

 looks very silky, and it twists up vine leaves. 



The little Apion is scarcely a line in length, lives in its larval 

 condition in seeds and grains, and is very injurious. It is a true 

 weevil, in spite of its size. 



The Larini frequent the shores of the Mediterranean. They 

 are well known by their elytra, which are covered with a sort 

 of efflorescence, which imitates spots and cloudy markings. Their 

 larvse live in the fleshy part of the receptacle or eye of composite 

 flowers. The engraving represents the larva of Larinus viaailosiis 

 in the centre of the receptacle of EcJiinops ritro. The adults are 

 on the ground and on a leaf. 



Very large species of the genus Calaiidra are found in the 

 tropical parts of the globe; and in Guiana the palm trees are 

 more or less riddled by one. The adult Calandra pahnariim is a 

 large velvety black beetle, and is nearly two inches in length ; its 

 larva is a great worm-shaped creature, and lives in the pith of 

 the trunk of the trees, boring large cavities in the wood itself. 

 When full-giown it forms a cocoon with the woody fibres which 

 surround the pith, and undergoes its transformations therein. 

 This species and another, Calandra sacchari, are equally de- 

 structive to the sugar-cane in the West Indies. The natives of 

 Guiana and Surinam consider these larvae as great dainties, and 

 eat them boiled. 



Calandra granaria, or the Corn Weevil, is notorious for the 

 ravages it commits upon the corn in granaries. It is a slender 



