140 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



WE now come to a Beetle which has doubtlessly 

 annoyed many of my readers, especially if they should 

 happen to be, or to have been, schoolboys. When 

 cracking a filbert after the primitive fashion, it is by 

 no means pleasant to find the shell of the nut yield 

 sooner than expected, and the mouth filled with a 

 bitter black powder, instead of -the richly-flavoured 

 kernel. There are few things nastier in their way 

 than such a nut, and the fault lies entirely with the 

 NUT WEEVIL (Balaninus nuctim\ a figure of which is 

 given herewith. This is a very curious Beetle, its 

 beak being as fine as a needle, very long and very 

 much curved, so that the insect, when viewed in 

 profile, looks something like a shoemaker's awl. 



This genus is at once known by the long and 

 slender beak, which is nearly as long as the triangular 

 body. The antennae are set in 

 the middle of the beak. The 

 present species is rather prettily 

 coloured. The general colour 

 is soft-brown, but the elytra 

 have a nearly white mark 

 shaped like the letter U, its 

 outlines being defined by two 

 black bands. The scutellum 

 is white. These colours are 

 produced by the clothing of 

 down with which the insect is 

 covered, and when the down is 

 rubbed off, the Beetle becomes nearly black. 



The life story of this Beetle is very simple. As 

 soon as the nut blossom has fallen, and the fruit has 



