150 INSECTS. 



having in general the form shown in our figure of A. apricans. Though the 

 British species are numerous and some of them common everywhere on clover, 



trefoil, and other leguminous plants, they are 

 seldom noticed owing to their small size. In 

 Apoderus, Attelabus, and Rhynchites we have a 

 group of genera which are interesting on account 

 of the leaf- rolling habits of the females, and 

 remarkable also, in the case of the first genus, for 

 the great length of neck displayed by some of 

 the species. The females deposit a single egg, or 



Avion apricans (nat. size and much • ,, , „ 



enlarged). m some cases two or even three eggs in each of 



the little rolled -up leaf packages, which serve 



afterwards both as a shelter and food-supply for the larvae. Three or four species 



of these leaf-rolling weevils are found in Britain. Our figure of A. longicollis, 



lorvn. 



LEAF-ROLLING WEEVILS. 



1, Attelabus curculionoides ; 2, Apoderits coryli ; 3, Rhynchites betuleti ; 4, R. populi ; 5, R. betulce. (Nat. size.) 



a Javan species, shows what an extraordinary length the neck may attain in 



the males of some of the tropical representatives of the genus, although in this 



species it is not nearly so long in proportion as in an allied form (A. tenuissimus) 



found in the Philippine Islands. The nut -weevil (Balaninas 



nucum) affords a strong contrast in the shape of its head to the 



species just mentioned. It will be noticed that in this weevil 



the head is very short behind the eyes, whereas the beak is 



greatly elongated, with the antennas inserted near the middle of 



its length. The female lays her eggs in hazel-nuts while the 



latter are still in a half-developed condition ; she first pierces a 



hole in the soft shell of the nut, and then depositing an egg in 



the opening pushes it in with her beak. The grub feeds inside 



the nut, remaining in it until autumn, when it bores a round 



aperture in the shell, and, escaping from the nut, makes its way 



into the soil, where it surrounds itself with a cocoon formed of 



Apoderus longicollis 

 (enlarged). 



