168 INSECTS AT HOME. 



infinite variety in their details, so that a full description of al] 

 the species would occupy well-nigh more than the space that 

 can be given to the whole of the Beetle tribe. 



I have often thought, when examining these little beings 

 with the microscope, that artists in metals might find in them 

 and other Beetles an exhaustless mine of new and most beauti- 

 ful patterns; and, indeed, artists, no matter in what depart- 

 ment, cannot do better than study the insect tribes, in order to 

 learn many secrets of form and colour. 



Tiny as they are, the Apions often do much damage to the 

 agriculturist, many of them living in peas and beans, as has 

 been stated of the Bruchus, some boring into the stems or 

 roots of plants, or making a gall-like excrescence on the leaves 

 or twigs. They specially freqiient clover, and in a field of this 

 plant, and along the adjoining hedgerows, the entomologist 

 can take sufficient Apions in a morning to give him full em- 

 ployment during the winter months with his microscope. I 

 may here mention that some knowledge of drawing is a potent 

 help in the study of insects ; and, indeed, the note-book 

 and pencil should be always at hand. No matter how rude 

 may be the sketch, it is sure to be useful, and has a wonderful 

 power in fixing details in the mind. 



On Woodcut XVII. Fig. 3, is shown Apion carduorum, 

 being about one-seventh of an inch long, while the generality of 

 Apions are not much more than half that length. The antenna 

 is represented at c, and the tarsus at/. The head and thorax 

 of this insect are black, with short shining hairs scattered very 

 thinly over the surface. Near the base of the head the an- 

 tennae are set upon two rather bold tubercles. The elytra are 

 of a verdigris-green, with a tinge of blue — a colour which is 

 rather common to this genus — and the spaces between the striie 

 are very flat. 



Some eighty Biitish species are known to entomologists, and 

 I would strongly recommend the beginner to lay aside the ex- 

 amin;i(ion of these little beings xmtil his eye is trained to 

 seizing details by soma practice with the larger insects. 



The specific name of this insect, carduorum^ signifies ' of 

 the thistles,' and is given because it can be found upon that 

 plant. Indeed, the majority of the Apions are named after 

 the plants which they principally frequent. The reader wiL^ 



