140 



under the leaves or loose bark of the vines, or in any 

 similar place, to avoid the light. Advantage may 

 be taken of this habit to destroy it, by placing a 

 handful of moss here and there among the branches 

 of the vines, by way of trap, and into this it 

 always retires at the approach of day. The moss 

 to be taken down and examined every morning, and 

 the insects found in it killed. Another species (pro- 

 bably C picipes) often causes the failure of grafts by 

 eating the buds just as they are bursting into shoots, 

 when, if the season be adverse, or the graft too weak 

 to develop an adventitious bud, it, of course, dies. 

 Both species suddenly drop to the ground if dis- 

 turbed, when, either from the instinct of self-preser- 

 vation, or from being stunned by the fall, they lie as 

 if dead, and being nearly the colour of the earth, 

 they are difficult to discover ; caution is therefore ne- 

 cessary in catching them. {Ibid. 1841, 325.) 



Curculio sulcatus, as described by Mr. Curtis, is a 

 dull black weevil, with a stout proboscis, at the extre- 

 mity of which is the mouth ; the thorax is granu- 

 lated, and the elytra are rough, with several elevated 

 lines and minute ochre-coloured dots placed somewhat 

 transversely ; it has no wings. The period for the 

 appearance of these weevils depends upon tempera- 

 ture, for May is mentioned by some, and June by 

 others, as the months when they are mischievous in 

 gardens, and in hot-houses much earlier. Mr. E. 



