of Hylobius Abietis in Fir Plantations. 447 



tlie Pinus Si/lvestris, and devouring its resin; and then in his peculiar 

 style, he proceeds to describe its manners as follows : " Tarde incedit, 

 arete apprehendit, tenaciter adhteret. ore frustra cutem mordere tentat cap- 

 tious." There is, however, in this description, evidently somethiug erro- 

 neous, for he finishes by observing that the larva spins a subglobose net 

 on leaves, and undergoes metamorphosis in it, thus confounding Hylobius 

 with another and very different genus of the Curculionidee. 



Curcutio Abietis. Lin. Faun.Suec. 615. 



The description of this species, by Linnaeus, appears to be grounded on 

 his confounding an insect now called Pissocles Pint, with a small va- 

 riety of his original C. Pini. He describes his Curculio Abietis, which is 

 evidently our insect, as inhabiting the bark of the Pine. It is very simi- 

 lar, he says, to the Curculio Pini, but only half the size. This is, however, 

 a mistake according to Paykull, as he ought to have said twice the size, 

 if he was comparing it with Pissocles pini. 



Curculio Pini. Lin. Syst. Nat. 608. 19. 



Curculio Abietis. Lin. Syst. Nat. 613. 57. 



Linnseus here appears to think these two species the same, for he re- 

 marks, " Vidi copula junctos C. Pini et Abietis." The observation would 

 scarcely however have been worth the recording, had he not had in his 

 recollection the examination of the Pissocles, when he took it for a small 

 variety of C. Pini. 



Curculio Abietis. De Geer Ins. 5. p. 204. 1. 



Curculio Abietis. Fab. Spec. Ins. 1. 175. 84. 



Fabricius, entirely misled by the last mentioned remark of Linnaeus, here 

 says, " Forte varietas sexus C. Pini," which is impossible, for the C. Pini 

 of Fabricius is the Pissocles. 



Curculio Abietis. Fab. Syst. Entom. 138. 59. 



Curculio Abietis. Payk. Fn. Suec. 2. 187. 3. 



The principal observation of importance here made, is with respect to 

 the size, " MajoresC. germanum fere cequiparant, Minores vix dimidiam ejus 

 magnitudinem attingunt," — an observation which accounts for Linnaeus's 

 considering his C. Abietis as different from his C.Pini, and confounding a 

 small variety of this last with the Pissocles Pini. 



Curculio Pini. Marsh, Ent. Brit. 1. 289. 152. 



Here the Pissocles Pini is considered to be the C. Abietis of Linnseus, and 

 the C. Abietis of Linnajus is described under the name of C. Pini and all 

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