346 MODERN CLASSIFICATION OF INSECTS. 



have found the larvae in profusion in the seeds of this plant at the 

 back of the Isle of Wight in the month of August. The larvae con- 

 siderably resemble those of the nut weevil, being short, thick, tuber- 

 cular and without hairs ; and I succeeded in rearing many specimens, 

 the imago eating its way out of the bud and pod, and evidently hy- 

 bernating and depositing its eggs in the following spring like the other 

 weevils. Mr. Curtis, however, considers it probable that some 

 specimens remain in the larva and pupa state until that time. (^Brit. 

 Ent. p. 292.), which cannot, I should conceive, be the case. 



The larvEB of Rhinodes Pruni have been described by several 

 authors, as slug-like glossy grubs, found upon the leaves of the 

 cherry and plum. If there be not some error in this statement, the 

 habits of this genus and Magdalis (which are united together by 

 Mr. Curtis) are very different ; the species of the latter, as I have 

 ascertained by rearing a great number of specimens, undergoing the 

 transformations beneath the bark of dead willow trees, in which the 

 larvae burrow ; the imago appears in June, in company with a species 

 of Eulophides, which is evidently parasitic upon it. 



In the third number of Silbermann's Revue Entomologique is con- 

 tained an account of the destruction of the crops of rape in Germany 

 by a minute larva, supposed to be that of a species of Ceuto- 

 rhynchus. 



The British species Rhinocyllus thaumaturgus (Antiodontalgicus 

 IlUger) has been regarded by some writers as a specific in the tooth- 

 ach. Gerbi has given a long detail of its supposed efficacies in his 

 Storia Naturali d' mi Nuov. Inset.^ 1794<; and by whom it is stated, 

 that a finger, once imbued with its juice, will retain the power of 

 this disease for twelve months ! 



The species of the genus Brachycerus Oliv. inhabit the southern 

 parts of Europe and Africa : they are found upon the ground in hot 

 sandy situations, early in the spring. An anonymous writer informs 

 us that Br. undatus feeds on the leaves of Arum arisarum in October. 

 Br. barbarus attacks the medicinal squill, several being generally 

 found at the heart of the leaves near the root. Br. algerus feeds on 

 the leaves of a large lily growing in sea sand (^Ent. Mag. vol. iii. p. 465.) 

 Latreille informs us, in the appendix to Cailliaud' s Voyage, that the 

 women in Ethiopia string these insects together, and wear them 

 round their necks as an amulet. 



But the most destructive of all the Rhyncojihora is the insect 



