164 INSECTS AT HOME. 



birch-trees. If, however, one specimen be found, a number 

 will generally reward the collector, for, allhduoh it is not 

 widely distributed, it generally occurs plentifully in some 

 favoured locality. The ash-tree is chosen by this Beetle on 

 account of the fungi which grow upon it, and which form its 

 food. When it cannot find a convenient fvmgus, it is obliged 

 to content itself with burrowing into decaying wood or beneath 

 the dead bark. On Woodcut XVI. Fig. b, the larva of this 

 Beetle is shown. 



Of the Attelabidse we shall take two examples, the first be- 

 longing to the typical genus, and kno^vn by the name of 

 Attelabus curculionoides. Woodcut XVII. Fig. 1. 



In this family the head is more elongated, and the beak is 

 rather widened towards the end. The antennae are straight, as 

 may be seen at Fig. a, which represents one of the antennae of 

 the present species. The rather peculiar tarsus is shown at d. 

 The elytra do not reach to the end of the body. The genus is 

 known by the broad and rather flattened body, the wide thorax, 

 and the shape of the head, which is not narrowed into a neck 

 behind the eyes, as is the case with Apodems, a genus which 

 otherwise much resembles it, but has a definite neck and a 

 body more flattened. 



The present species is very common throughout England, 

 and is a very pretty little Beetle, varying in length from an 

 eighth to a quarter of an inch. The head is black, and slightly 

 wrinkled between the eyes. The thorax is small, very finely 

 punctured, and brick-red in colour, the elytra being of the 

 same hue. 



Oak and hazel, especially the underwood, are the best 

 localities for this Beetle, which can best be captured, like many 

 others of its group, by the sweep-net. Sometimes eight or ten 

 specimens will be found in the net after a few minutes' sweep- 

 ing. The reason for its prevalence in such localities is, that 

 the larva feeds on the young leaves of the oak. Leaves which 

 have been attacked by this insect are very common in oak- 

 copses, and a pocketful can often be obtained in a short time. 

 They are known by being rolled up tightly into a shape which 

 'las been well compared to a lady's thimble. To the naked 

 eye, the brick-red of this Beetle looks rather dull, but when 



