1899] MOTTLED WILLOW WEEVIL. 133 



occupied by a dead and disintegrating ' larva,' and presumably tbe 

 egg was laid in or about the bud, towards which the short cavity is 

 directed." 



On Nov. 1st, Mr. Alex. Higgins noted further : — 



" Since writing, I have got a number more of infested shoots all 

 of which are from Willow, and the selection of Willow is the more 

 marked, as in the immediate neighbourhood there is abundance of 

 both Poplar and Sallow. 



"I noticed, in handling some rather lively specimens of the beetle 

 this evening, that they very frequently, when touched or otherwise 

 annoyed (?), give rise to faint but definite squeaks not at all unlike 

 the sounds produced when an indiarubber doll is squeezed (in quality 

 only, of course). This, of course, is but an example of many similar 

 in the insect world — as, for instance, in ' atropos,' " 



In the above notes the mention of the especial selection of Willow 

 for attack, although in proximity with Poplar and Sallow, is of 

 interest ; and so also is the observation of the beetles giving rise to a 

 squeak-like noise on disturbance. 



Of this peculiar sound, it is noted by Prof. Westwood * : — " Accord- 

 ing to Lister, this insect emits a querulous sound when alarmed (De 

 Scar. Brit. App. Hist. Ins. Kaii). This noise is produced by rubbing 

 the base of the prothorax against the narrowed front part of the 

 mesothorax." 



In vol. iii. of Loudon's 'Arboretum et Fruticetum,' at p. 1480, is 

 given what I presume to be the same information, though rather 

 differently worded, from the Ashmolean Appendix to Eay's ' Historia 

 Insectorum.' Here it is recorded that "it possesses, though feebly, 

 the faculty of voice " ; and the statement, " Lacessitus, vocem quserulem 

 dedit " (that "on being disturbed or provoked, it makes a querulous 

 noise"), agrees with the observation that I was favoured with from 

 Bexhill (see above). It would be of a good deal of interest to have 

 some more observations as to this noise, and the method of its pro- 

 duction, for in all the modern accounts of the beetle's habits which I 

 have opportunity of consulting, I have not found any allusion to this 

 power of emitting sound. 



The beetle is about the third of an inch in length, rough, the 

 ground colour black, but with the sides of the thorax, a more or less 

 irregular transverse band near the base of the wing-cases, and about a 

 third of their length from the tip, of a yellowish colour. The thorax 

 with the sides rounded, and coarsely punctured, the front portion 

 bearing little bunches of bright black scales. The wing-cases with 

 the band at base varied with black or fuscous, and punctate ; the 



* ' Introduction to Classification of Insects,' by J. O. Westwood vol. i. 

 p. 344. 



