THE CORN WEEVILS. 



475 



Another species of Weevil, the GRASS WEEVIL or Lisette (Rhynchites Bacchus) 

 commits terrible devastations among the growing vines, sometimes stripping the bushes 

 of their leaves, which it rolls up and lines with silk. 



The most brilliant of the Weevils are to be found in the typical family Curculionidae, 

 to which belong the well-known Diamond Beetles, in such request as objects for the 

 microscope. Magnificent, however, as are these insects, some of our common little 

 field Weevils, which may be found abundantly on peas, nettles, and other vegetables, 

 yield to them not a single jot, when properly magnified and illuminated, the successive 

 rows of glittering scales with their numerous facets being quite as splendid as the scale- 

 lined pits which cover the elytra of the Diamond Beetle. 



The maggots that are so frequently found in nuts, and which leave so black and bitter 

 a deposit behind them that the person who has unfortunately tasted a maggot-eaten nut 



Xenocerus semlluctuosus. 

 'Eupholus Linnet. 



Balanlnus proboscldeus. 



is forcibly reminded of the Dead Sea apple, with its inviting exterior and bitter dusty 

 contents, also belong to the Weevils, and are the larvae of the NUT WEEVIL (Bala- 

 ninus nucuni). All the members of this genus are remarkable for the extraordinary 

 length of the snout, at the extremity of which are placed the small but powerful jaws. 

 An example of a foreign species, a native of Cayenne, is shown in the illustration, and 

 is given in order to show the inordinate length of the snout. 



While the nut is yet soft and undeveloped, the female Weevil bores a hole at the 

 base of the fruit, deposits an egg therein, and makes the best of her way to another nut, 

 which she treats in a similar manner. As the nut increases, the young grub feeds on 

 the interior of the nut, which is at first soft and milky, so as to suit its infant needs, 

 and by degrees hardens into a fruity substance more fit for it after its jaws and digestive 

 organs have acquired strength. After it has attained its full growth, it gnaws a round 

 hole through the shell of the nut, allows itself to drop to the ground, buries itself below 

 the surface, and in the ensuing autumn emerges in the perfect form. 



The common CORN WEEVIL (Calandra granaria) is perhaps the most destructive of 

 its tribe, its depredations far exceeding those of the insects that destroy nuts, acorns, 

 apples, cherries, flowers, and other vegetables. This pest of corn-dealers is of very small 

 size, not larger than the capital letter at the beginning of this sentence, and is there- 

 fore able to make its way through very small crevices. Like the preceding species, it 

 passes its larval existence within the grain on which it feeds, devours the whole of 



