﻿THE RHYNCHOPHORAj OR WEEVILS. 181 



quents Conifers, and its male is remai'kable for possess- 

 ing two little tufts of yellowish hairs on the second and 

 third abdominal segments. 



With these insects terminates the division Isotoma 

 of Thomson, distinguished by the connate abdominal 

 segments, of which the second and third are nearly 

 equal, the antennae straight, etc. : his other division, 

 Anisotoma, has the three apical segments free, the second 

 being much longer than the third, the antennae usually 

 elbowed, etc. 



The Apionid.e have the rostrum long, arched, cylin- 

 drical, and sometimes subulate [i. e. suddenly contracted 

 before the apex), with its scrobes more or less distant 

 from the mouth, and the antennae inserted towards its 

 middle, or base ; the head more or less elongate behind 

 the eyes ; the scutellum very small ; no wings ; the 

 elytra covering the pygidium ; the tibiae not spined at 

 the apex ; and the hooks of the tarsi free. 



The species of Apion are very numerous, chiefly fre- 

 quenting clover, trefoil, etc. Their larvae have varied 

 habits, the majority living in the seeds of Leguminosa, 

 some forming a kind of gall on the twigs or leaves of 

 plants, others making galleries in their stems, and one 

 even attacking their roots. 



The antennae in this genus are composed of twelve 

 joints, the club, which apparently has but three joints, 

 exhibiting, under a high power, a minute fourth one at 

 the apex. The rostrum has on the under side two deep 

 autennal grooves, converging from the points of inser- 

 tion of the antennae ; their use is to receive and protect 

 the basal joints of the antennae. 



Certain of the yellow-legged species are usually very 

 troublesome to beginners, not only on account of their 



