COLEOPTERA. 61 



at the end, so as to form a kind of gouge or scoop, the edges of 

 which are, furnished with httle notches or teeth. It is by means 

 of this singular scoop that the grub shovels the minute grains of 

 wood out of its burrow. The pupa is met with in the burrow 

 formed by the larva. It is of a yellowish white color ; the head 

 is bent under the thorax, and the snout 'rests, on the breast be- 

 tween the folded legs and wings ; the back is furnished with 

 transverse rows of little thorns or sharp teeth, and there are two 

 larger thorns at the extremity of the body. These minute thorns 

 probably enable the pupa to move towards the mouth of its bur- 

 row when it is about to be transformed, and may serve also to 

 keep its body steady during its exertions in casting off its pupa- 

 skin. These insects are most abundant in trees that have been 

 cut down for timber or fuel, which are generally attacked during 

 the first summer after tliey are felled ; it has also been ascertained 

 that living trees do not always escape, but those that are in full 

 vigor are rarely perforated by grubs of this kind. The credit of 

 discovering the habits and transformations of the northern Bren- 

 thus is due to the Rev. L. W. Leonard, of Dublin, New Hamp- 

 shire, who has favored me with specimens in all their forms. 

 This insect is now known to inhabit nearly all the States in the 

 Union. I am inclined to think that the Brenthians ought to be 

 placed at the end of the weevil tribe ; but I have not ventured to 

 alter the arrangement generally adopted. 



The rest of the weevils are short and thick beetles, differing 

 from all the preceding in their antennae, which are bent or elbowed 

 near the middle, the first joint being much longer than the rest. 

 Their feelers are not perceptible. They belong to the family 

 CuRCULioNiD^, so called from the principal genus Curcu/io, a 

 name given by 'the Romans to the corn-weevil. The Curculio- 

 nians vary in the form, length, and direction of their snouts. 

 Those belonging to the old gen'us Lurculio have short and thick 

 snouts, at the extremity of wf:ich, and near to the sides of the 

 mouth, the antennae are implanted ; those to which the name of 

 Rhynchcenus was formerly applied have longer and more slender 

 snouts, usually bearing the antennae on or just behind the middle ; 

 and the third great genus, called Calandra, contains long-snouted 

 beetles, whose antennas are fixed just before the eyes at the base of 



