178 INSECTS AT HOME. 



between the outer bark and solid timber of fresh-cut fir-trees. 

 In the hole thus formed an egg is deposited, the larva proceed- 

 ing from which eats galleries under the bark uutil it is full- 

 grown, when it closes its retreat with particles of wood, grass, 

 &c., and changes to a pupa. The perfect insects . . . cling 

 very tightly to the fingers vrhen handled.' The name Pissodes 

 is formed from a Greek word signif3nng pitch, and is given to 

 these insects because they inhabit the fir-tree. 



There is an insect, belonging to the same fjimily, which is 

 too well known to gardeners by the name of Apple Weevil 

 (Anthonovius pomorum). Unlike the Weevils which attack 

 the roots and stems of plants, this insect confines itself to the 

 flowers, a circumstance which has caused entomologists to give it 

 and its kin the name of Anthonomus, or ' flower-dweller.' In this 

 genus the body is egg-shaped and convex, but rather long, the 

 tibiae are widened in the middle, and the femora are toothed. 

 The insect is represented on Woodcut XVIII. Fig. 4, the form 

 of the antenna is shown at c, the maxillary palpus at d, and 

 the labial palpi at e. 



The colour is brown mottled with chestnut, and on the elytra 

 is a bold white mark much like the letter V. This Beetle may 

 be found in the winter time under the bark of trees, and if 

 touched will at once drop to the ground, where it can hardly 

 be seen. Towards the beginning of March- the time depending 

 much on the state of the weather — the Apple Weevil awakes 

 from its dormant state, and flies abroad in search of a mate. 

 The future proceedings of the insect have been admirably told 

 by Mr. E. Newman, in his ' Letters of Eusticus ' : — 



' By the time the female is ready for the important task of 

 depositing her eggs, the spring has considerably advanced, the 

 apple-buds have burst, and the little bunches of blossom are 

 readily to be distinguished. The Weevil soon finds out these, 

 and, selecting a blossom every way to her mind, commences her 

 operations. The beak or trunk, before alluded to, is furnished 

 at its extremity with short teeth or mandibles : with these 

 she gnaws a very minute hole into the calyx of the future blos- 

 som, and continues gnawing until the trunk is plunged in up 

 to her eyes ; the trunk is then withdrawn, and the hole ex- 

 amined with careful scrutiny by the introduction of one of her 

 feelers, or outer prongs of her trident. If it seem to require 



