176 BRITISH BEETLES. 



Of the remaining characters in the Rhynchophora, it 

 may suffice to say, that their mandibles (which are short 

 and robust) vary considerably in shape ; their prothorax 

 is very rarely margined at the sides, which are usually 

 merged imperceptibly with the pronotum; their tibiae 

 are very rarely toothed externally, and often spurless at 

 the apex; and their abdomen is composed of five seg- 

 ments, whereof the two first are very often soldered 

 together, and the third and fourth usually shorter than 

 the others. 



By Schonherr (whose ( Genera et Species Curculio- 

 nidum/ 8 vols., Paris, 1833-1845, has long been the 

 text-book of Coleopterists devoted to this section), the 

 Rliynchophora are divided into two sub-sections, the 

 Orthoceri, in which the antennae are not elbowed, with 

 the basal point slightly elongated ; and the rostrum has 

 no distinct lateral grooves for the reception of the basal 

 joints of the antennae; and the Gonatoceri, wherein the 

 antennae are more or less distinctly elbowed, the basal 

 joint being usually elongated, and always received into 

 a canal at the side of the rostrum. The latter sub- 

 section is separated into two groups, the Brachyrhynchi, 

 having the rostrum short, straight, and thick, with the 

 antennae inserted near its extremity, and mostly twelve- 

 jointed ; and the Mecorhynchi, in which the rostrum is 

 cylindric or filiform, more or less elongated (being seldom 

 shorter than the thorax), and with the antennae inserted 

 before or near the middle, never near the mouth orifice. 



The late Mr. Walton has published many papers in 

 the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History' (1844), 

 in which are descriptions of, and useful remarks upon, 

 many of our species of Weevils. 



As before remarked, all the Rhynchophora are vege- 



