THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 186 



have followed, Entomology most of my life, and have seen 

 many destructive insects, but I never saw anything like this 

 before. They injure fresh shoots every night; so you may judge 

 of the wholesale destruction they are causing, Aly friend has 

 put soot round each stool, but they seem to like that. Now is 

 the lime for tying the hop-bine, but of course that would be 

 useless. — E. R. !Sheppard ; 13, Limes Villas, Hiylt, Road, 

 Lewishain, Kent, S.E., May 3, 1876. 



[The beetle is Otiorhynchus picipes : it is entirely nocturnal 

 in its perambulations, hiding in the earth by day, generally 

 close to the stool of the hop-plant, where it is secure from 

 observation. The hop-bine is hollow like a reed, and 

 hexagonal ; its outside wall or coating being very rough to 

 the touch. The beetles emerge from their hiding-place at 

 dusk, and climb up the bine, each commencing nibbling just 

 where it suits his inclination, holding on during the operation 

 by the tenacious claws or hooks, with which all his legs are 

 furnished; and indeed so tight does he cling with them that 

 it is difficult to remove him against his will ; but, notwith- 

 standing this, he will frequently feign death, and throw 

 himself to the ground, there to remain perfectly motionless, 

 and exactly like a little lump of earth, until he believes all 

 danger past, when he will slowly and deliberately ascend the 

 bine as before. He seems to possess but a small mouth : 

 this is situated at the extremity of a snout or rostrum, and is 

 furnished with a pair of corneous jaws, with which he digs a 

 way into the wall of the bine in many different places, 

 seldom passing entirely through, but being apparently quite 

 content with having stopped the circulation of the sap, and 

 thereby suspended vitality in that particular bine, and 

 defeated all its endeavours to produce hops. The particular 

 bine becomes flaccid, and to all appearance lifeless; yet this 

 by no means interferes with the ability of the stool to 

 produce more bines, although these, being later, are very 

 rarely so productive, neither are they so likely to bring their 

 hops to maturity. I always find the strongest, largest, and 

 most succulent bines selected for the attack ; and I have also 

 remarked that when the attack has proved fatal to one 

 particular bine, and it has become flabby and flaccid, it 

 loses all the attraction it ])ossessed for ihe weevil, and is 

 neglected, in order that another mere healthy victim, one fuller 



