THe MicroscopicaL News 
AND 
NORTHERN MICROSCOPIST. 
No. 45. SEPTEMBER. 1884. 
WEEVILS. 
By James FLEMING. 
A paper read before the Manchester Microscopical Society. 
HILE it is generally understood that all kind of agricultural 
and garden produce suffer from the attack of insects, the 
extent of the damage and the serious loss involved thereby 1s 
only known to those who have to do with the cultivation and 
“handling” of the products of the soil. Although these pests 
make their presence known to the florist and farmer by the stunted 
growth and sickly appearance of the plant, and by the perforations 
and reduced bulk of the grain, they are frequently so small that 
the naked eye can hardly discern them, and it requires the 
microscope to reveal their true character. 
If I enumerate a few instances of loss occasioned by lice, flies, 
and beetles, they may help to justify my venturing to bring under 
the notice of the members that most destructive family of coleop- 
terous insect—Weevils. 
In August of last year there appeared an article in the Worthern 
Microscopist, giving an account of the devastation in the vinerles 
ofa gentleman at Accrington, from an attack of the vine-aphis, 
Phylloxera vastatrix, the same insect which causes such havoc in 
the vineyards of France. In this instance the ordinary skill of the 
gardeners on the spot failed to discover the cause of all the mis- 
chief, and only by using the microscope was the enemy discovered. 
As a constant guest, but in varying numbers, the British farmer 
has to contend with the wire-worm, or click-beetle, belonging to 
the family Sternoxi. The larva takes its name from having the 
appearance of a piece of flattened wire, while the jumping motion 
of the imago, producing a clicking sound, furnishes its name. As 
in most instances, this beetle does the greatest harm when in the 
larval condition. In this state it continues for sometimes as long 
as five years, eating away and attacking the roots of all crops, 
VOL. IV. 
