52 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



tudinal lines or ribs. This beetle is about four tenths of an 

 inch long. It appears on the wing in July. 



The foregoing beetles, though differing much in form and 

 habits, possess one character in common; namely, their feet 

 are five-jointed. Those that follow have four-jointed feet. In 

 this great section of Coleopterous insects are arranged the 

 Weevil tribe, the Capricorn beetles or long-horned borers, and 

 various kinds of leaf-eating beetles, all of which are exceed- 

 iifgly injurious to vegetation. 



So great is the extent of the Weevil tribe,* and so imper- 

 fectly known is the history of a large part of our native species, 

 that I shall be obliged to confine myself to an account of a 

 few only of the most remarkable weevils, and principally those 

 that have become most known for then* depredations. Mr. 

 KoUar's excellent " Treatise on Insects injurious to Gardeners, 

 Foresters, and Farmers," contains an account of several kinds 

 of weevils that are unknown in this country ; and indeed but 

 few resembling them have hitherto been discovered here. 

 Should future observations lead to the detection in our gar- 

 dens and orchards of any hke those which in Em-ope attack 

 the vine, the plum, the apple, the pear, and the leaves and 

 stems of fruit-trees, the work of Mi-. KoUar may be consulted 

 with great advantage. 



Weevils, in the winged state, are hard-shelled beetles, and 

 are distinguished from other insects by having the fore part of 

 the head prolonged into a broad muzzle or a longer and more 

 slender snout, in the end of which the opening of the mouth 

 and the small horny jaws are placed. The flies and moths 

 produced from certain young insects, called weevils by mistake, 

 do not possess these characters, and their larvas or young differ 

 essentially from those of the true weevils. The latter belong 

 to a group called Rhynchophoridje, literally, snout-bearers. 

 These beetles are mostly of small size. Their antennae are 



* See page 18. 



