54 Observations on various Insects 



Vetches are also seriously injured by the maggots of a little 

 weevil — 



11. Apion Pomona, Fah. ; A. coerulescens, Kirhy. (Fig. 16 ; 

 17 the same, flying and magnified.) 



This weevil is larger than the clover Apions which have just 

 been described ; the female is of a black colour, entirely clothed 

 with very short hoary hairs ; head punctured ; rough between 

 the eyes ; proboscis short, thick, hairy, punctured, apex attenuated 

 and curved downward, dilated at the middle beneath (fig. 19); 

 horns moderately long (fig. 20), inserted in cavities at each side 

 of the proboscis towards the base ; eyes prominent ; the trunk 

 black with a bluish tint, broadest behind, with a channel before 

 the scutel, punctured, and with hairs ; wing-cases covering the 

 body, oval, narrowest at the base, bluish, with longitudinal punc- 

 tured furrows, the spaces between them flat. A pair of ample, 

 nearly transparent wings, are fokled beneath the wing-cases in 

 repose. The 6 legs are moderately long, the feet 4-jointed, the 

 third bilobed, the fourth with 2 small claws (fig. 21). The male 

 is similar to the female, but the proboscis is smooth, shining, and 

 more attenuated ; forehead between the eyes with two impres- 

 sions (fig. 18) ; the horns Avith the first joint reddish at the base. 

 It varies in length from If to 2^ lines. 



They fly well, even when the sun does not shine, especially 

 the males. As early as May these weevils are found on the 

 whitethorn, and are abundant until the autumn on heaths, fir- 

 trees, and oaks ; they also inhabit hedges, and must frequently 

 abound in cultivated fields, as I have ascertained that the female 

 deposits her eggs in the pods of the bush-vetch ( Vicia sepiuni), 

 and the following are my observations on the economy of this 

 weevil. The end of July, 1847, I found in a field of tares or 

 vetches ( Vicia safiva), left for seed and partly ripe, a great 

 number of the pods which were more or less distorted (fig. 12). 

 On opening them I found the seeds partially eaten, some with 

 only a hole in them (fig. 13), surrounded by abundance of brown 

 and white excrement ; other seeds were hollowed out, and a cell 

 formed in each of them, of an oval form, but irregular ; in these 

 cells was either a fat maggot (fig. 14?* 15 the same magnified) 

 or a pale ochreous pupa, which I at once saw was that of some 

 weevil. On the 16th of August three specimens of Apion 

 pomoncB hatched — one male and two females. When first dis- 

 closed they were of a dirty ochreous tint ; the head and disc of 

 the thorax soon became blackish, as well as the legs ; the thighs 



* Although I bred this weevil, I cannot be certain that these larva; are not the 

 maggots of some parasite. 



