476 THE LONGICORN BEETLES. 



and then, gnawing its way through the shell, becomes transformed in process of time into 

 its perfect shape, which is that of a little long-beaked Weevil of dull red colour, which, 

 however, under the microscope, is singularly beautiful. 



Many species belonging to this destructive genus are equally plentiful all over the 

 world, and equally injurious. There seems, indeed, to be no vegetable substance that is 

 not eaten by the Weevils, which appear to have a peculiar liking for those that are used 

 for human food. Almost every article has its peculiar Weevil. There is the RICE 

 WEEVIL, for example (Calandra oryzce], known from the previous species by the four red 

 spots on the elytra, which is nearly as destructive towards rice and Indian corn as the 

 Corn Weevil towards wheat. 



One of the largest species is a native of the West Indies, and is known by the name 

 of the PALM WEEVIL (Calandra palmarum). This huge Weevil sometimes attains the 

 length of two inches, and its colour is a dull, velvet-like black. The larva of this large 

 beetle is a great fat white grub, called gru-gru by the negroes, and considered by them to 

 be a great dainty. The more educated inhabitants know this grub by the name of Ver 

 palmiste. This grub is especially fond of the newly planted canes, and is sometimes so 

 terribly destructive among them that 'a fresh planting becomes necessary. When this 

 creature is about to attain its pupal condition, it weaves for itself a kind of cocoon 

 formed from the fibres of the plant in which it lives. 



BEFORE noticing the long-horned insects, we must briefly mention a terribly destruc- 

 tive family of beetles, that are certainly allied to the Weevils, but whose precise degree 

 of relationship does not seem to be very accurately understood. 



To this family belongs the far-famed Scolytus destructor, a little dull coloured insect, 

 insignificant in appearance, but able to lay low the loftiest elm that ever reared its leafy 

 head. Hundreds of our finest trees have fallen victims to the devouring teeth of this 

 tiny beetle, a creature hardly the sixth of an inch in length. These insects not only 

 burrow into the trees for the purpose of obtaining food, but therein they deposit" their 

 eggs, and therein are the young larvae hatched. 



The mother beetle deposits the eggs in a row, and the young, immediately upon 

 entering the world, begin to eat their way through the wood, all diverging at right angles 

 from the burrow in which they were laid, and all increasing the diameter of the burrow 

 in exact proportion to their own growth. Hundreds of these quondam dwellings may be 

 seen on roadside fences and railings, and so numerous are they on many trees that the 

 bark falls off in flakes, the course of the sap becomes arrested, and at last the tree dies 

 from the injuries to which it has been subjected by these minute but terrible foes, who 

 work in darkness, unseen and secure. The grubs or larvae may often be found in these 

 tunnels. They are thick, round, and fat, without feet, and of a whitish colour, except 

 the horny head with its powerful jaws. 



WE now come to the Longicorn beetles, so called on account of the extraordinary 

 length of the antennae in many of the species. These insects are well represented in 

 Eng ] and by many species, though none have the antenme of such wonderful length as are 

 shown in the illustration on page 475. 



As in the preceding family, the Longicorn beetles pass their larval state in wood, 

 sometimes boring to a considerable depth, arid sometimes restricting themselves to the space 

 between the bark and the wood. The grubs practically possess no limbs, the minute scaly 

 legs being entirely useless for locomotion, and the movements of the grub being perfornuid 

 by alternate contraction and extension of its ringed body. In order to aid in locomo f ion 

 the segments are furnished with projecting tubercles, which are pressed against the bides 

 of the burrow. Those of the common wasp beetle ( Clytus arietis) may be found at the 

 beginning of summer in fir trees, or in paliugs and posts of that wood. 



The XENOCERUS, so remarkable for the inordinate length of the antennae, is one of the 

 finest examples of the Anthribidre, not only for the long and thread-like antenna), but 

 for the beauty of its colouring. It is a native of Amboina, where it was found by 

 Mr. Wallace. The male is jetty black diversified with small white stripes on the head 



