338 THE NATURAL HISTORY 



some of the most elegant forms among the whole 

 insect tribe, and many species are clothed in such 

 gorgeous costumes, that one need not be an Ento- 

 mologist to admire them. The Calandra granarla, 

 which for its subsistence throughout the whole period of 

 its larval stage is satisfied with a single grain of wheat, 

 is abundant in our granaries, and often does much 

 mischief there. Cionus Scrophularl(B y Clonus Verbasci, 

 Clonus Blattarlce, with their slimy larvae, are not un- 

 common on the plants from which the two first derive 

 their specific names. Ceutorhynchus Erlslml and 

 Cryptorhynchus Lapathl we have not so often seen. 

 Orchestes Fagl is very common, and pierces the buds 

 of our beech trees just as they are about to burst, to 

 such an extent, that the delicate green leaves when 

 fully expanded, are found to be disfigured with in- 

 numerable perforations like pinholes. Balanlnus 

 Nucum, Balanlmis Glandlum, and Balanlnus villosus, 

 we have taken not unfrequently in Padswood Copse 

 and other covers. The first gives birth to. "the little 

 red-capped worm that's shut within the concave of a 

 nut," and has not the most distant resemblance to its 

 larva, which every one who has cracked a " maggotty" 

 nut must be familiar with. The perfect insect is pro- 

 vided with a curved rostrum, nearly as long as its 

 body, and as fine as a needle, with which it perforates 

 the outer integument of the nut before it has become 

 hardened into a shell, and there deposits an egg. 

 Anyone who has the curiosity to carefully examine a 

 few nuts while they are in their growing state, may 

 detect the scar of this perforation in nearly every 

 specimen that has been attacked by this weevil ; the 

 little round holes we so often see among the nuts we 

 have stored up for winter use, are the work of the 

 full-grown larvae, which thus gnaw their way out of 

 their nurseries in order to undergo their next meta- 

 morphoses. The economy of Balanlmis Glandium, 

 which commits its eggs to the acorn instead of the 



