THE HICKORY-NUT WEEVIL. 327 



Moth. — Sooty black, the fore- wings with reflections of tawuy yellow, blue and 

 purple ; their outer edge black, with oblique triangular whitish streaks placed at 

 equal distances apart. A very oblique faint silvery blue streak extends inwards 

 from the points of two of these white streaks, namely, the fourth and sixth ones 

 from the tip of the wing ; while the usual white spot on the inner margin of the 

 wings is wanting. Expanse of wings, .60 inch. (Fitch.) 



121. The hickory-nut weevil. 



Balaninus nasicus Say. 



Order Coleoptera ; family Curculionid^. 



This worm, like the chestnut borer, transforms into a long-snouted 

 beetle closely like B. rectus, but with a darker, thicker, more curved 

 rostrum, and with the antennae springing from its middle in the male 

 and from its basal third in the female. Two thoracic paler bands are 

 seen on the thorax, and there is always a pale transverse band behind 

 the middle of the elytra, and a sutural band. In the male the beak is 

 equal to three-fourths the length of the body, in the female to five- 

 fourths. It breeds entirely on hickory nuts (Riley.) 



Mr. Harrington states that in the neighborhood of Ottawa, Canada, 

 this species is never found on the hickory, and frequents the hazel almost 

 entirely. Some years it is very numerous on these bushes, and the nuts 

 correspondingly worm-eaten. 



The beetle. — It is nearly one-third of an inch long (exclusive of the beak), and of 

 ail oval shape, being widest across the base of the wing-covers. It is densely clad 

 with very short yellowish hairs, and has a somewhat variegated or mottled appear- 

 ance, especially on the elytra, due to patches of darker hairs. The beak is very long, 

 slender, curved, and almost black. (Harrington.) 



Mr. Harrington states that B. rectus is much rarer in the neighborhood 

 of Ottawa, and usurps the claim of B. nasicus to be considered the 

 hickory-nut weevil, while a few specimens occurred on the oak. He 

 remarks that B. rectus is of the same size as the preceding species, but 

 much lighter in color, and distinguished by its more slender and less 

 curve(i beak, which in the female is longer than the whole body. (Eep. 

 Ent. Soc. Ottawa for 1883, p. 51.) 



122. Tortrix sp. ? 



Family Tortricid.e ? ; order Lepidoptera. 



Found October 4 to 9, eating a dark mine in the skin of the shell of 

 the walnut itself, making a tunnel, I think a longitudinal one, along 

 one of the quarters of the skin ; of about the size of the body, but of 

 irregular thickness. 



Larva. — Body short and thick, tapering a little towards the end, and somewhat 

 hairy. Head and prothoracic shield honey-yellow ; the shield paler than the head, 

 which is dark towards the mouth-parts. Body dull white ; each segment with two 

 transverse dorsal ridges, on which are setiferous warts. Length, 7™°'. 



