THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



No. 82. FEBRUARY 1844. 



X. — Notes on the Coleopterous genus of Insects, Rhynchites of 

 Herbst. By John Walton, Esq. 



In the year 1838 I published some notes in the ^Entomological 

 Magazine' (vol. v. p. 1 and p. 254) on the genera Sitona, Poly- 

 drusus, Phyllobius and Apion, belonging to the family Curcu- 

 lionida, since which the species of the remaining genera have 

 more or less engaged my attention. I repeat with pleasure that 

 I have been permitted most liberally to examine all the metro- 

 politan cabinets of insects, especially the rich one of Mr. Stephens, 

 containing the late Mr. Marsham's collection ; and I have endea- 

 voured to determine, I hope with as few errors as possible, the 

 nomenclature of our indigenous species, according to the views of 

 Marsham, Kirby, Stephens and Cm-tis. In the above-named pub- 

 lication I recorded my belief that the principal part of the foreign 

 synonyms of the British Curculionites were then in a very in- 

 correct state ; I therefore determined to make an attempt to ascer- 

 tain by what names our species were known to the continental en- 

 tomologists ; and in order to carry out this intention I entered into 

 correspondence with M. Schonherr, Dr. Germar and M. Che\TO- 

 lat. I sent a series of British species of Curculionites to each of 

 the above-named celebrated foreign entomologists, and in return 

 was kindly furnished not only with the names by which they 

 were known to them, but with numerous named types of species 

 according to the Swedish, German and French authors, together 

 with much valuable information. Principally from these mate- 

 rials I have been enabled to clear up, in a manner satisfactory 

 to myself at least, the nomenclature of nearly all the British 

 species, and propose to give a list of the indigenous Curculionites 

 with their synonyms, accompanied with such observations as I 

 presume may be useful. 



As I shall frequently have occasion to refer to specimens con- 

 tained in the Kirbian cabinet, so liberally presented to the Entomo- 

 logical Society by its venerable and talented Honorary President, 

 it may be as well to call attention to the fact that that collection 

 contains many species of Curculionites (as well as other Coleopte- 



Ann. 6c Mag. N. Hist. Vol. xiii. G 



