132 THE RHYNCHOPHORA. 



in a retreat secure from the most biting frosts. In 

 the ensuing spring he would have changed to a pupa, 

 which, in the course of the summer, would produce 

 one of the most abundant of the British Rhyncho- 

 phorous Beetles, the common Nut Weevil (Balaninus 

 Nucum). This insect is nearly half an inch long, 

 but about half this length is made up by a slender 

 rostrum, which is longer and thinner in proportion to 

 the body than that of any other of our native species. 



The common Nut Weevil may serve to give us an 

 idea of the ordinary form of the most typical species 

 of this tribe. The body is somewhat oval, but a little 

 pointed before and behind ; its upper surface is slightly 

 flattened, whilst below it is more convex. The pro- 

 thorax, which is a little narrower than the base of the 

 elytra, is of a conical form with curved outlines, and 

 the small head is immersed up to the eyes in the 

 cavity of the front of this first segment of the body. 

 From between the eyes springs a long slender rostrum, 

 curved downwards towards the end like the beak of 

 an Ibis, and from near the middle of this springs a 

 pair of long, slender, elbowed antennae, of which the 

 first joint is nearly as long as all the rest taken toge- 

 ther. The legs are long and pretty stout, but adapted 

 rather for clinging firmly to the twigs of trees than 

 for rapid motion, for which indeed neither the Nut 

 Weevil nor any of its relatives are particularly famous. 



It must not be supposed, however, that these cha- 

 racters are common to all the Rhynchophora. In 

 some the body is more elongated and convex, in 

 others shorter and flatter than in the Nut Weevil ; 

 in some the rostrum is much shorter and thicker, and 

 the antennae, although always situated upon its sides, 

 are sometimes inserted at its base, or close to its apex, 



