THE BEETLES 



depositing an egg in the opening pushes it in with her beak. The grub feeds in- 

 side the nut, remaining in it until autumn, when it bores a round aperture in 

 the shell, and, escaping from the nut, makes its way into the soil, where it sur- 

 rounds itself with a cocoon formed of fragments of earth. The "apple-blossom 

 weevil " {Anthonomus pomorum) is another species which, on account of its in- 

 jurious habits, deserves some notice. It is about a quarter of an inch long, of a 



LEAF-ROUJNG 

 T. Allelabus curculionoides; 2. Apoderus coryli; 3. Rhynchites betnleti; 4. R. populi; 5. /?. betults. (Natural size.) 



grayish-brown color, with an oblique white band on the elytra, and three 

 whitish lines on the thorax. The female deposits her eggs in the unopened flower 

 buds of the apple, and the larva by feeding on the stamens and pistil causes the bud 

 to wither and die. In about fifteen days, the larva attains its full size, changing 

 then to a pupa within the bud, and the beetle appears about eight days later and 

 escapes through an opening which it makes in the side. A closely- allied species 

 (A. pyri) proves injurious in the same way to pear blossoms. The cabbage-gall 

 weevil ( Ceuthorrhynchus sulticollis) and certain species of Baridius 

 attack cruciferous plants; the larvae of the former live inside galls 

 which they raise on the roots of cabbages and turnips, while those 

 of Baridius may be found living in the lower part of the stem. 

 The grain weevils, which are most numerous in tropical countries, 

 are represented in Britain by two almost cosmopolitan species, the 

 corn weevil (Sitophilus granarius] and the rice weevil (S. oryzce}, 

 These are both small species, but belong to a subfamily (the 

 Calandrin<z} , which includes a number of the largest tropical 

 weevils, such as the palm weevil {Rhynchophorus palmaru-ni) . 



The Scolytida and two other small families, the Brenthid<z and 

 Antkribidte, are associated with the weevils in the tribe Rhyn 

 chophora. The Scolytidce are little beetles which live under bark, 

 and often prove very injurious to trees. They have four-jointed tarsi, clubbed 

 antennae, and the head produced in front into a short muzzle. The females lay their 



Apoderus longicollis. 

 (Enlarged.) 



