169 



crement over the opening in the shell which is pressed and plas- 

 tered down with the tip of the abdomen, thus sealing the en- 

 trance to the eggs. When the excrement is dry it is of a whitish 

 color and forms a spot on the acorn which is easily seen. So far 

 as I have observed, only one other of the weevils has this habit 

 of sealing the egg-chamber. This is the straight-snouted acorn 

 weevil which is described later. , , 



The eggs are translucent white, like those of the other spe- 

 cies, and are very irregular in shape. The drawing shows several 

 forms that were produced by one beetle. Two eggs were measur- 

 ed, one being .02 x .03 inch and the other .02 x .04 inch. The 

 larvae of this species devour the entire meat of the acorn, leav- 

 ing the nuts late in the fall or during the winter through a cir- 

 cular exit hole and enter the ground for hibernation. 



THE MOTTLED ACORN WEEVIL, Balaninus nasicns Say. 



In the localities where I have collected this is the least com- 

 mon of all the acorn-infesting weevils. I have never seen more than 

 two score of the beetles on the trees and these have all been on 

 biennial oaks. Hamilton bred it from acorns of white and chest- 

 nut oak and more sparingly from those of scarlet oak. I have 

 found it ovipositing in red oak and, more sparingly, in scarlet 

 and black oak acorns but never in any other variety. The white 

 and chestnut oaks are certainly not preferred in the locality 

 where my observations were made. 



The beetle is slightly smaller than in the species last des- 

 cribed and the back of fresh specimens is brown, beautifully mot- 

 tled with clay yellow. The spots are large and have a tendency 

 to form bands across the wing covers. The beak of the female 

 is from one-fourth to three-eighth of an inch in length, or, about 

 the length of the body. The beak of the male is half as long 

 as that of the female. 



Hamilton, in Pennsylvania, took the beetles by beating oak 

 branches from about the 10th of May till near October. I have 

 taken them at French Creek, from August 8th till September 

 28th. The beetles are quite likely present in this locality both 



