308 BARON WALCKENAER ON THE 



liniment intended to destroy other insects, it would seem that 

 the Cantharides of the vine were insects of that nature, or at 

 least whose similarity of colour occasioned them to be con- 

 founded or compared with them. Now, since neither Mylabris, 

 Lytta, Meloe, Cantharis, nor any Coleopterous insect pos- 

 sessing blistering properties lives on the vine, it is evident 

 that the insect we are in search of must be looked for among 

 those which from their colour would be likely to be compared 

 to, or mistaken for, these insects ; particularly with the Mylabris 

 of the endive, with yellow stripes, or the Cantharides of the 

 shops, which are of a brilliant green colour ; for we know that 

 the ancients made use of both these insects in medicine and 

 agriculture. 



We will now examine those Coleoptera or Beetles which are 

 injurious to the vine; and the one which best fulfils these 

 indications, will be the Cantharis of the vine mentioned in the 

 Geoponicks. 



The largest of these is Lethrus cephalotes, which gnaws off 

 the young shoots of shrubs generally, and especially those of 

 the vine, and carries them into its burrow. e But this species 

 seems peculiar to Hungary, where it is called Schneider, 

 cutter ; it is frequently met with also in the western parts of 

 Russia ; it is not known as a pest of the vine, by French or 

 Italian cultivators. I do not find any thing about this insect in 

 ancient writers ; if it was known to them, they included it 

 amongst those which they designated by the general term, 

 Scarabwus. 



This is not the case with the Weevils, many species of which 

 are injurious to the vine with us. 



The one which I have most frequently found upon this plant, 

 is the Curculio Picipes, Fab. probably the same as C. Corrupter 

 of M. Host, and C. Vastator of Marsham. f 



These weevils eat the buds of the vine just as they are 

 expanding. They are injurious to its fruitfulness, but they 

 also attack pear and apple trees. They do more mischief in 

 Germany and the south of Europe, than in this country. 



e Latreille, Gener. Crust, et Ins. t. ii. p. 95 j ibid. Cuvier, t. iv. p. 542 ; Fischer, 

 . Enlom. de la Russie, p. 133, xiii. 1 ; Kirby, Introd. to Entom. t. i. p. 204 ; Ann. des 

 \ gcienc Natur. t. i. p. 221. 



f Walck^nSer, Faun. Paris., t. ii. p. 249 ; Fabricius, System Eleuth, t. ii. p. 540, 

 No. 201 ; Marsham, Entomologia Britannica, t. i. p. 300, No. 180. 



