ANT 



[53] 



ANT 



July. The male is intense black, clothed 

 with short hair and bristles ; the eyes 

 reddish brown and meeting above ; face 

 inclining to chestnut colour, with a bright 

 spot of the same on the crown ; the fore 

 part of the trunk bears four varying 

 whitish stripes ; the body is ashy grey, 

 the segments blackish, at the base a deep 

 black ; wings two, stained with black, 

 and beautifully iridescent ; the base and 

 poisers ochrcous, the nervures of the 



The female is entirely ashy grey, and 

 less bristly ; the eyes not meeting on 

 the crown, with a bright chestnut-colour- 

 ed stripe between them ; body oval, the 

 apex cone-shaped ; horns and legs black- 

 ish ; wings and nervures lighter than in 

 the male, which it equals in size. Ibid. 



ANTHONY/ MUS POMO'RUM. Apple Wee- 

 vil. This insect shelters itself beneath 

 the scurfy bark during the winter, await- 

 ing the return of spring to renew its at- 

 tacks upon the blossom-buds. " This in- 

 sect," says Mr. Curtis, " commits great 

 devastation in apple-orchards by destroy- 

 ing the stamens, pistil, and receptacle of 

 the flower. As soon as the blossom-buds 

 swell, the female beetle begins to deposit 

 her eggs. In calm weather she selects a 

 good bud, and makes a hole in it with 

 her rostrum (long beak) ; she fixes her- 

 self at the hole, lays one egg, and goes 

 on till she has deposited a considerable 

 number of eggs in separate buds. The 

 bud continues to swell, and the petals 

 (flower-leaves) nearly expand, when sud- 

 denly the growth ceases, and the petals 

 wither and assume a shrivelled appear- 

 ance. If one of these flower-buds be 

 examined when nearly expanded, a small 

 white grub, with a black head, will be 

 found in the centre, which begins to as- 

 sume a yellowish colour ; a few days 

 later, the grub will be found either 

 wholly or partially changed to a beetle, 

 and should there be a small hole on the 

 side of the receptacle the beetle will have 

 escaped : the transformation from the 

 egg to the perfect state not having occu- 

 pied more than a month. When this 

 beetle, or weevil, leaves the receptacle, 

 it feeds during the summer on the leaves 

 of the trees, and is seldom to be seen. 

 In the autumn, the weevils leave the 

 trees and search for convenient hiding- 



places under stones about the trees, or 

 under the rough bark, in which they pass 

 the winter. Consequently, as they com- 

 mence their operations early in the 

 spring, care should be taken to remove 

 all stones, dead leaves, and other litter, 

 from tinder the trees, as well as to scrape 

 off the rough dead bark from them in 

 the winter season. The apple-weevil is 

 also very injurious to pear-trees. This 



beetle, or weevil, is scarcely one line and 

 a half long; its wing-cases are dark 

 brown, with whitish gray stripes; its 

 antennae (horns or feelers) spring from 

 the middle of its beak, and all these 

 parts, as well as its eyes and the under 

 part of the body, are black. 



There are several nearly allied species 

 of predatory weevils, which will be 

 found under the name of CURCULIO. 



ANTHOSPE'RMUM. (From anthos, a 

 flower, and sperma, seeds. Nat. ord., 

 Cinchoniads [Cinchoniaceae, formerly Ru- 

 biaceae]. Linn., 22-Dioecia 4-tetrandria). 

 Cuttings in sand, under a bell-glass ; peat 

 and loam; summer temp., 50 to 65; 

 winter, 40 to 45. 



A. cethiof picum (Ethiopean). 2. Green and 

 white. June. Cape of Good Hope. 



ANTHU'RIUM. (From anthos, a flower, 

 and oura, a tail, referring to the spadix 

 or Arum flower-spike. Nat. ord., Oron- 

 itads [Orontiaceae]. Linn. Sys., 4-Te- 

 trandria \-monogynia. Allied to POTHOS). 

 Stove Epiphytes. Suckers; peat and 

 loam. Temp, in summer, 60 to 85; 

 winter, 50 to 55. 



A.longlfo'lia (long -leaved). 1. Apetal. 



Mexico. 1829. 

 rubcfscens (reddish). Brown. September. 



Brazil. 1828. 



There are five other species, but un- 

 deserving cultivation. 



