98 LECTURE IX. 



Beetle, a native of Brazil, and remarkable for the 

 extreme brilliancy of its appearance, which is 

 owing to numerous rows of scaly spots of a golden 

 green cast, disposed on a jet-black ground, and 

 accompanied by a variable or iridescent lustre. 

 The magnified figure (here represented) will give 

 a clearer idea of its appearance than any verbal 

 description. It is an insect which varies consider- 

 ably in size, but is usually something more than 

 an inch in length. 



To the genus Curculio also belongs the curious 

 animal the Nut Weevil, a small brown insect, 

 with an extremely long and slender snout. This 

 insect is the parent of the maggot in the hazel- 

 nut, which is known to every body. About the 

 beginning of August, the female Curculio wan- 

 ders about the hazel-trees, while the nuts are 

 in a very tender state, the rind of which she 

 perforates with her snout, and deposits an egg 

 in the puncture; and thus continues to do, till 

 she has deposited her whole stock. The nut, 

 not apparently injured by this slight perforation, 

 continues to grow, and gradually ripens its kernel. 

 When the egg is hatched, the maggot, finding its 

 food ready-prepared, begins to feast on the kernel. 



