WEEVILS 105 



beauty. These beetles are most tenacious of 

 life. I had a specimen of the Churchyard 

 beetle sent to me recently, which had been 

 accidently packed in a young lady's box when 

 she left Egypt three months before. When 

 I received the insect it was still quite lively, 

 in spite of its long fast. The curious Oil 

 beetles (Meloe), which have one of the 

 strangest of life histories, and the green 

 blistering beetles, commonly called ' Spanish 

 flies,' belong to the Heteromera. 



The beetles with four-jointed feet are 

 a numerous group. Two of their most 

 important divisions are the Weevils and 

 Long-horns. I shall take a specimen of 

 each. The members of the first are readily 

 recognized by the beak or snout, which pro- 

 jects in front of the head, and to which the 

 antennae are attached. The magnificent 

 Diamond Beetle of Brazil is a weevil. The 

 specimen which I have chosen, although 

 small and not so brilliant, resembles in a 

 minor degree that glory of tropical America. 

 It is the Silver-green Weevil (PhylloUus 

 argentatus), Plate VIII. , Fig. 10, a tiny beetle 

 about a quarter of an inch in length. It is 



