SNOUT-BEETLES OR WEEVILS. 129 



[ Fis. 59. ] [Bahia, Saxmis and Coscinopfera,) resemble 



them in these characters, thus showing the 

 close relationship between the two families. 

 The present family contains the well known 

 X)ea and bean weevils, which are often very 

 seriously injurious to these crops. The pea- 

 bugs make their appearance and deposit 

 their eggs in the early part of the summer, 

 and as they have but one brood in a sea- 



Bhuchus risl, Liun.: — a, beetle cii- i , • i -, -i i .• 



larsed, the small outline showiii^r SOU, WC CaU obtaiU SOUUd SCCd by planting 

 natural size ; 6, a pea from wliich the , , n , r- -r 



beetle has escaped— after Riley. peaS aS latC aS the llrst 01 JUUe. 



T|je family contains but a few geuera, and ,all our injurious species 

 belong to the genus Brnchus^ Linn.* 



The most notorious si)ecies are the pea- weevil {Bruchus pisi, Linn.); 

 the bean-Aveevil {B. ohsoletns^ Say), and the grain-bruchus {B. granarius, 

 Linn.) The latter is a European species which has been imported in 

 small numbers into this country. 



Family LVI. ANTHRIBID.^. 



This and the following family are really only sub-divisions of the great 

 Curculio family, from which it is distinguished by the presence of an 

 upper lip and palpi, and the straight antennai. The larvae inhabit the 

 seeds and stems of plants, and some have short but well developed feet. 

 The larvae of the genus BrachytarsuSy which is composed of very small 

 species, are found under the scales of bark-lice, and are supposed to be 

 parasitic, thus presenting a remarkable anomaly in this tribe of beetles. 

 The sj)ecies are much more numerous than the Bruchidae, but none of 

 them have proved injurious to cultivated crops. The name is derived 

 from the Greek antlios — a Jfower, and tribo — to destroy. 



The following are the four ijrincipal genera : 



A. Thorax \v-ith a transverse ridge in front of the posterior margin Tropideres, 2 sp. 



A A. Thorax without transverse ridge. 

 B. Body oblong oval ; rostrum with parallel sides. 



C. Anterior coxiB rather widely separated ; eyes small and finely granulated Anthribus, 2. 



C C. Anterior coxas but slightly separated ; eyes large and coarsely granulated... Cratoparis, 3. 

 B B. Body short ; size small ; rostrum cut obliquely Brachytarsus, 5. 



*In Mr. Crotch's Check list the generic name Mylabris, of Geoifroy, is substituted for BrucMis, Linn. 

 The former term, derived from the Gr»ek mu-le — a grain-mill, was applied by the Greeks to some kind 

 of insect found in mills and baking hoiises, and sujiposed by some to have been a species of lilatta, or 

 cockroach, and by others, the common meal-worm or larva of the Tenebrio inolitor ,- but was applied by 

 Geoft'roy to the beetles of the piesent family. A few years later, Linnteus, having overlooked the 

 name given by Geoffrey, re-described these insects under the name oi Bruchus, also an ancient Greek 

 name of 8ome kind of insect, supposed to have been a species of locust, but which cannot now be deter- 

 mined with certainty. As these insects feed upon grain and other seeds, the name given by Geofl'roy 

 has the claim of appropriateness, as well as of priority, but the term Bruehus has become established 

 by universal adoption and long continued usage, so that, like many other words, it may be said to 

 have acq uired a meaning of its own, independent of its origin. 



—17 



