66 WEEVIL. 



colour; but which, when properly magnified, ex- 

 hibit the varying lustre of the most brilliant gems : 

 this appearance is owing to innumerable minute 

 scales, analogous to those on the wings of butterflies, 

 and which, by their polished surface and different 

 juxtaposition, produce the admired effect just men- 

 tioned: they are of an oblong-oval shape, alike at 

 both ends, and not dilated and notched at the tips 

 as in the butterfly tribe. Every other part of the 

 insect is also decorated with similar scales, but not 

 in the form of spots ; and along the thorax they 

 are disposed into parallel, broad, longitudinal 

 bands. This species has been faithfully figured 

 in the works of Drury, Olivier, &c. but it is 

 utterly impossible for any figure of the natural 

 size to convey any idea of more than the general 

 appearance of the animal. The engraving annexed 

 to the present description exhibits a magnified 

 view of the insect, accompanied by one of the 

 natural size, as well as by several of the shining 

 scales, very highly magnified, in order to shew 

 their particular shape. 



Another species, not greatly inferior in beauty 

 to the former, is the Curculio regalis, a native of 

 New Holland, and which in its general shape and 

 ground-colour, bears a near resemblance to the 

 preceding, but is decorated with large, brilliant, 

 gold-coloured patches, dispersed over the wing- 

 shells, and which also owe their brilliancy to in- 

 numerable golden scales, as in the C. imperialis. 



Nor is our own country destitute of a species of 

 almost equal elegance, though far inferior in sizej 



