THE GRASS WHEVIL. 383 
diverging elytra descend but a very little way below the thorax. Insects of this genus—espe- 
cially the males, where the elytra are longer than in the other sex—are used by unprincipled 
druggists for the purpose of mixing with the true blister fly, which they resemble sufficiently 
to deceive an inexperienced eye. In some parts of the world, however, they are always 
employed in connection with the blister beetle, or even used instead of that insect. The oily 
matter that is poured from the joints is considered in some countries to be a specific for 
rheumatism, and is expressed from the insect for medicinal purposes. 
The Oil Beetle’s color is dull indigo-blue, and its natural length is not much more than 
one inch and a quarter. 
A few other insects of this family are rather remarkable in their habits. One of these is 
the Srrarts, the larva of which is found in the nests of several of the mason bees (Anthophora 
and Osmia), and the general opinion of naturalists is that they feed upon the larvee of those 
insects. Some, however, think that their only object in this intrusion is to eat the provision 
of pollen that has been laid up for the young bee. 
The MEAL-worm, so well known to bird-fanciers as a wholesome diet for nightingales and 
other birds ; to millers, for its ravages among the grain; and to sailors, for its depredations 
among the biscuit, is the larva of a beetle named Tenebrio molitor, the former word being given 
to it in allusion to its love of darkness, and the latter to the damage which it occasions to the 
miller. This is one of the maggots which have caused sailors to knock the edge of a biscuit 
upon the table before eating it, an action which in many old voyagers has become so deeply 
rooted a habit, that they are actually unable to resist the movement. These larvee are terribly 
sharp-toothed, eating their way through the sides of casks while in search of food. Some 
species of the same genus have the power of ejecting an acrid fluid to the distance of more 
than a foot; the one most remarkable in this respect being a Brazilian insect, Tenebrio grandis. 

WE now arrive at a vast group of beetles, embracing several thousand species, which are 
popularly classed under the name of Weevils, and may all be known by the peculiar shape 
and the very elongated snouts. Many of these creatures have their elytra covered with minute 
but most brilliant scales, arranged in rows, and presenting, when placed under the microscope, 
a spectacle almost unapproached in splendor. They are mostly slow in their movements, not 
quick of foot, and many being wholly wingless. 
Many of these creatures are extremely injurious to vegetables, both while growing and 
when stored up in barns or granaries. Most persons are too familiar with the little maggots 
that infest peas, and frequently ruin whole pods at a time, each pea containing a single white 
grub. These are the larvee of the Pra Wernvin (Bruchus pisi), which feed upon the soft 
substance of the pea, and make their escape just about the time when the vegetable is suffi- 
ciently ripe for gathering. One of the Corn WEEVILS (Bruchus granarius), so destructive 
to grain, also commits great ravages among the peas. One species of this genus inhabits the 
cocoa-nut, and the creatures are infinitely more abundant in tropical than in temperate climates. 
It is thought, indeed, that several species ot these destructive insects have been imported into 
Europe in cargoes of grain, and finding the country suitable to their habits, have thriven there. 
Another species of Weevil, the Grass WEEVIL, or Liserrs (Riynchites 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 the 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 seale-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 is 
forcibly reminded of the Dead Sea apple, with its inviting exterior and bitter dusty contents, 
