THE CURCULIO. 37 



The cells in Figure 3 are usually made from three to six inches below the sur- 

 face, and the grub shapes them by a succession of turnings and twistings as a bird 

 forms her nest, or as a dog will prepare his bed. The grubs of many beetles that go 

 through their transformations in the ground do just so. 



Figs. 4 and 5 are greatly enlarged representations, both front and back, of the 

 pupa, giving very satisfactory views of the appearance of this insect in its intermediate 

 stage between the grub and the beetle. The Curculio in this stage has no power of 

 locomotion, but it shows its sensibility when- the cell is broken into by a restless, 

 wriggling motion. 



Fig. 6 is a representation of the matured beetle before it has emerged from the 

 ground. It will be found of various shades of color, but generally of a pinkish red ; 

 these colors, however, soon change into those of Figure i of this Plate, after the insect 

 comes to the surface. 



Fig. 7 is only a greatly enlarged view of Fig. 2, to make it more satisfactory. 



Fig. 8 gives a good view of the origin of the antennae or feelers. 



The eyes of most insects are wonderfully formed. They may be said to be 

 compound eyes, each made up of many hexagonal lenses. If a comb of the hive 

 bee, containing one or two hundred cells, could be photographed down to the size of 

 the head of a pin, it would look somewhat like the eye of a beetle. Each eye of the 

 Curculio contains about 150 of these lenses. The number in the eyes of Butterflies, 

 Moths, or Dragonflies, amounts to many thousands. In some microscopic expe- 

 riments made last summer upon the eyes of plant lice from different trees and plants, 

 it was found that the number of lenses in the eyes of these insects varied from every 

 tree and plant. Each thus proved to be a distinct species, no matter how close the 

 resemblance in other respects. Thus, should the rose bushes of a garden or a neigh- 

 borhood be cleared of these pests they would not be re-inhabited by those from other 

 plants. While examining one of these aphides it brought forth a young one, and 

 this in turn being tested its eye was found to contain the same number of lenses as 

 the mother's. This peculiarity of the eyes of insects, and the knowledge of the exact 

 number of these lenses in the eye of each species, become important in investigations 

 where only the comminuted parts can be obtained. In a long series of examinations 

 of the contents of the stomachs of birds, for the purpose of ascertaining more posi- 

 tively how far the insectivorous kinds frequenting orchards are useful in feeding upon 



