202 BARON WALCKENAER ON THE INSECTS 



rim or Calandra granarius of our modern naturalists; the Curculiofru- 

 mentarius of Linnaeus, the Apionfrumentarius of Schcenherr and Latreille. 

 The former is of a dark fulvous colour ; the latter is red and brilliant, and 

 is, I think, that of which Pliny speaks, for it attacks wheat, while the 

 other principally infests oats*. These indications leave us in great un- 

 certainty relative to the Cantharides of the Geoponics. But as it was 

 undoubtedly their corrosive or vesicating properties which caused the 

 Cantharis of the ancients to be employed in the liniment which was 

 destined to destroy other insects, it is probable that their Cantharides 

 of the vine were insects of the same nature, or other insects Avhich, from 

 the resemblance of their colour, were confounded with them. Now, as 

 no Coleopterous insect, or Scarabaeus, has vesicating properties, as no 

 Mylabns, Lytta, Melo'e, or Cantharis lives upon the vine, it is evident 

 that the insect of which we are in search must be found among those 

 which from their colour may be confounded or compared with them, 

 especially with the yellow-banded Mylabris of the endive and the 

 brilliant green Cantharis of apothecaries, for we know that these species 

 were employed by the ancients in medicine and agriculture. 



We will now pass in review all the Coleoptera or Scarabaei which injure 

 the vine, and that which corresponds the best to these indications must be 

 the Cantharis of the vine of the Geoponics. The largest of all these Coleo- 

 ptera or Scarabaei is the Lethnis Cephalotes, which gnaws the young shoots 

 of shrubs in general, but particularly those of tlie vine, and carries them 

 into its hole.f But this species appears peculiar to Hungary, where it 

 is named Schneider, cutter ; it is also frequently found in the western 

 parts of Russia; but neither our cultivators nor those of Italy make any 

 complaint of it. I do not find anything relative to this insect in the 

 ancient authors, and if they were acquainted with it, it must have been 

 comprehended by them under the general name of Scarabceus. 



It is different with the Curculiones ( Charansons), of which we have 

 several species which infest the vine. The one which I have found 

 most frequently upon this plant is the Curctdio picipes of Fabricius, 

 which is perhaps the same species as the Curculio Corruptor of Host, 

 and the Curculio Vastator of MarshamJ. The grey Curculiones, with 

 globular bodies, devour the shoots of the vine as soon as they come out 

 of the bud. They prevent its development and the production of grapes; 



* Schcenherr, Sijnonymia Curculionidtim, vol. i. p. 283. No. 75, gem\s Apion. 

 Walckenaer, Faun. Paris., vol. i. p. 237. No. 15. Latreille, Geiier. Crust, et 

 Insect., vol. ii. pp. 249 and 271. Ibid., Cuvier, vol. v. p. 88. Oliv., Entom. 

 vol. v. 83, 16, 196. 



t Latreille, Gener. Crust, et Insect., vol. ii. p. 95. Ibid., Cuvier, vol. iv. p. 542. 

 Fischer, Entom. de la Russie, p. 133. xiii. Kirby, Introd. to Entom., vol. i. 

 p. 204. Ann. des Scien. Nat., vol. i. p. 221. 



X Walckenaer, Faun. Paris., vol. i. p. 249. Fabricius, Sijst. Eleuth., vol. ii. 

 p. 540. No. 201. Marsham, Entomologia Britannica, vol. i. p. 300. No. 180. 



