APION FLAVIPES. 243 



growing in the ditches between Ely and Littleport. 

 When the larvae are full-grown, they fall to the bot- 

 tom of the cavity, the floor of which is formed by 

 the joint of the stem next below them ; and there, 

 inclining themselves against the walls of their chamber 

 in a nearly perpendicular direction, pass into the 

 pupa state : the perfect insect, soon after its appear- 

 ance, eats its way out of the plant. It is rare to find 

 these insects in those plants which grow in the 

 water, or at least to find them alive, as from the 

 rising of that element in rainy seasons they are liable 

 to be drowned ; but they abound most in those ditches 

 which are dry during the summer. These insects 

 vary greatly in size, some being half as big again as 

 others : the colour also is a little variable. 



APION FLAVIPES.* 



I OBSERVE annually that, about the month of Sep- 

 tember, several species of Apion, more particularly 

 the A. flampes and its allies, resort in great numbers 

 to the evergreens in gardens, on which they may be 

 found till the cold weather either kills them or com- 

 pels them to hibernate. If the boughs be shaken 

 over a white cloth, quantities will fall, though not 

 perhaps previously noticed on the plants. In fact, 

 they seem to confine themselves chiefly to the under 

 surface of the leaves. For what purpose they fre- 

 quent the shrubs, I am not aware ; as the plants, in 

 which these species of Apion are bred, and on which 

 they feed in the larva state, are the Dutch and red 



* Steph. Man. p. 259. 



M2 



