242 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



donous plants. The most common is C. Pcdma- 

 rum, of which the larva, known by the name of ver- 

 palmiste, is esteemed a delicious food. It is so 

 abundant in Guiana, that shortly after a palm-tree 

 is cut down, especially the Maripa palm, which fur- 

 nishes the chou-palmiste, of which a great quantity 

 is consumed in the colony, crowds of these insects 

 may be seen collected upon its stem, and occupied 

 in penetrating into its interior.* The species re- 

 presented is rather larger than the Palm-weevil, 

 and is named 



CALANDltA HEROS. 



PLATE XXII. FIG 5. 

 Fair Olivier, v. No. 83, pi. 28, fig. 410. 



The rostrum is black and cylindrical, with a 

 small recurved piece on each side at the apex. The 

 thorax is brownish black, clothed with a velvety 

 pubescence. The elytra are likewise velvety, but 

 of a browner hue than the thorax, much shorter 

 than the abdomen, and slightly striated on the sur- 

 face. The under parts of the body, and the legs, 

 are black, the anterior tibiae somewhat curved on 

 ihe interior edge. It inhabits the East Indies. 



* Lacordairee. 



