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grubs with red or brown heads. The pupae occupy cells in 

 the earth made by the larvae and are usually of lighter color 

 than the larvae. Both stages, in most of the species, need fur- 

 ther study before they can be differentiated with any degree of 

 certainty. 



BEHAVIOR OF THE ADULT WEEVILS. 



The beetles of some of the species of nut weevils may be 

 met with in the field at any time from early in the spring till 

 late in the fall. They are most abundant, however, in July. 

 August and September. Both sexes feed, usually, on the husks 

 or the kernels of the nuts in which they deposit their eggs, but 

 they occasionally depart from this custom and obtain a little 

 food from other parts of the plant. One male larger chestnut 

 weevil was found at French Creek feeding on a Kieffer pear. The 

 food is gotten by boring with the beak into the tissue and swal- 

 lowing some of the juices and solids that are encountered in 

 making the puncture. 



The beak is stiff, and the mouth at the extremity consists in 

 part of a strong pair of jaws. The head, to the front of which 

 the beak is attached, is rounded behind and fits into a concavity 

 in the front of the thorax forming a union like a ball and socket 

 joint. The construction of this joint permits the head to revolve 

 for more than a fourth of its circumference. In piercing a nut 

 the beetle presses the point of the beak against the surface and 

 by rotating the head drills an opening to the desired depth. 

 This organ makes a surprisingly efficient instrument for this 

 work for the insect is able to pierce even the horny shell of the 

 mature pignut which may be a tenth of an inch in thickness and 

 almost as hard as bone. The eggs are placed at the bottom of 

 these galleries made with the snout. 



Several writers on the habits of these weevils have believed 

 that after a female has completed her egg-gallery in a nut she 

 deposits an egg at the mouth of the opening and then turns 

 around and pushes the egg into place with her snout. I have 

 watched repeatedly the egg-laying operations of all the weevils 



