THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 9 



mental A's, both in the capital letter and the small or " lower-case " 

 letter, as the printers call it; but the family likeness runs through all, 

 and it is astonishing how quick a child learns to distinguish each 

 family type. It is true there are a few abnormal or eccentric insects 

 — there were some which deceived even Linnasus — which put on the 

 habit of strange families, just as an eel, which is a true fish with fins, 

 puts on the habit of a snake — a reptile without fins. But these are 

 the exceptions and not the rule. 



Now it is wisely ordained that every family, as a general rule, has 

 not only a distinctive family appearance, but also distinct family 

 manners. For example, nobody ever saw an Ichneumon-fly construct 

 a nest and provision it with insects, as does a Digger-wasp ; and nobody 

 ever saw a Digger-wasp deposit its eggs in the body of a living in- 

 sect at large in the woods as an Ichneumon-fly does. But each fam- 

 ily maintains its peculiar family habits, and cannot be induced to de- 

 viate from them. 



So universally is this the case, that if an insect is brought me 

 which I never saw in my life, I will tell half its history at a glance. 

 It is this ''Unity of Habits," this beautiful provision of nature — defi- 

 nite family likeness, accompanied by definite family habits — which so 

 simplifies the task of the practical man ; for, instead of having to 

 study the diversified habits of half a million species, he has but to 

 acquaint himself with the appearance and characteristics of one hun- 

 dred families ; and if the rudiments of Entomology had been taught 

 in the schools of this country, so that the farmer had become familiar 

 with these hundred family types, he would now be much better able 

 to cope with his insect enemies. When I think that it would take a 

 child no longer to learn these one hundred family types than it does 

 to learn the one hundred different types which compose the four al- 

 phabets — the Roman capital and small alphabet and the writing cap- 

 ital and small alphabet — I fully expect, and sincerely hope, that in the 

 public schools of this country we shall soon have text-books intro- 

 duced which will cover the ground as well, and occupy the same 

 place as do those useful works of Leunis, and Troschel and Ruthe, in 

 the public schools of Germany. 



With these few remarks, which are intended to show that the 

 practical man may easily obtain a general knowledge of his insect 

 friends and enemies, notwithstanding the wide field of their opera- 

 tions and the immense number of species which exist, we will now 

 dwell for a while on one of these families, which deeply interest us 

 as fruit-growers, namely : 



THE CURCULIONIDiE OR SNOUT-BEETLES. 



This is one of the very largest and most conspicuous families in 

 the Order of Beetles {Coleoptera), comprising, as it does, over 10,000 

 distinct and described species. It is at once distinguished from all the 



