1838. HOUSE— No. 72. 79 



tinct mandibles or jaws ; last joint but one of the feet divided into 

 two lobes. 



Brenthus septentrionis passes thou2;h all its metamorphoses in the 

 trunks of trees, under the bark of which the perfect insect is, in 

 summer, frequently found. The female perforates the bark with her 

 slender beak, and deposits an egg in the hole thus made. The 

 larvae penetrate into the solid wood forming cylindi-ical passages, 

 which they keep clear by constantly thrusting behind them and out 

 of the hole their castings, as fine as saw-dust. A full grown larva 

 measures above an inch in length. It is of a whitish color, and is 

 very much elongated and cylindrical ; each of the first three seg- 

 ments is furnished beneath with a pair of legs, and there is a fleshy 

 prop or proleg beneath the hinder extremity of the body ; the last 

 segment is dark chestnut colored, of a horny consistence, and hol- 

 lowed above so as to form a kind of gouge or scoop, the edges of 

 which are furnished with little notches or teetli. It is by means of 

 tliis singular scoop that the larva shovels the minute grains of wood 

 or castings out of tlie orifice of its burrow. On the dorsal segments 

 of tlie pupa are transverse rows of minute spines or teeth, and the 

 tail is surmounted by two distinct spines much larger than the others ; 

 the beak isinflexed under the breast. 



In the genus CurcuUo the antennae are geniculated or bent at right 

 angles in the middle, the first joint being very long, inserted near 

 the mouth, and usually received into a groove at the side of the ros- 

 trum, which is short and thick ; the body is ovate, convex, narrower 

 before, and in most species ornamented with minute scales ; the 

 antenna? are situated near the extremity of the rostrum, and are 

 composed of eleven joints, the three last of which are united into a 

 mass or club. — The weevil tribes use their snouts for preparing the 

 holes in vegetable substances and fruits in which their eggs are de- 

 posited.. 



Curculio hilaris lives in the solid wood of the oak. The perfect 

 insect is developed in May , and may then be found on the trunks 

 of trees sub copula. 



The antennas in the genus Rhynchmnus resemble those of curcu- 

 lio, are eleven-jointed, but inserted near the middle of the rostrum, 

 which is long and slender ; the body is more elongated than in cur- 

 culio. 



