Family XXIV. Curculionide. (Weevils.) A 
very large group of plant-feeding beetles, with 
hard, elliptical bodies, and the head produced into 
a proboscis, on each side of which are placed the 
sharply-angulated antenna. The tarsi are generally 
four-jointed in this and all the following families, 
except the last. 
The Pea-Weevil (Bruchxs pisz) 
is dark grey, with patches of lighter 
hair. The larva bores into the pods - 
and seeds of peas, where it becomes a 
pupa, and subsequently emerges as a 
beetle. It is sometimes very destructive. 
Rhynchites betule is a shin- 
ing black beetle, which gnaws the 
young shoots of birch, beech, 
alder and poplar, and causes them 
to wither. It then forms a roll 
of the leaves, in which it depo- 
sits its eggs. 
Fig. r. Molytes coronatus is a black oval spe- 
cies, with gilded depressed spots on the thorax and 
elytra. It is found 
under stones, or 
crawling slowly 
about walls. 
The Nut- 
Weevil (Balanz- 
wus muciuM) 1S 
black , thickly 
clothed with grey 




or yellowish hair. 
The sides of the 
thorax, and some 
irregular markings on the elytra are paler. 
white larva is common in hazel-nuts. 
Otiorhynchus unicolor is a 
shining black beetle, and the AA, 
thorax is nearly as broad as long. 
The elytra are granulated and @ 
slightly striated. It is generally 7 , 
found in hilly districts. = 
Macrocephalus albinus is reddish brown with 
snow-white spots, and a broad pro- 
boscis. It feeds on rotten beeches 
and elms but is not often seen, as 
its colour resembles that of its sur- 
roundings. It is not found in 
England. 
Family XXV. Tomicide. The 
body is long, flat and often rather narrow, and the 
antenna short, with a long jointed club. The beetles 
and their larve are found beneath the bark of living trees. 
Fig. j. Bostrychus typographus, although a small 
beetle, is a great destroyer of pine-forests, living 
beneath the bark of the trees, and there forming 
galleries which resemble Arabic letters. The older 
beetles are blackish, but those which live under the 
bark are brownish red before they emerge into the air. 
black, 
Scolytus prunt is shining with the 
borders of the thorax and the 
clytra brown. It is found be- 
neath the bark of plum-trees, 
which it greatly injures. Botn 
sexes are figured, considerably magnified. 
Family XXVI.  Cerambycide. (Long-horned 
Beetles.) These are moderate-sized or large beetles, 
with rather narrrow bodies and long antenne. The 
head is often vertical, and the antennz are setiform, 
and smooth o1 hairy. The thorax is often angulated 
at the sides. The elytra are generally long, but do 



not close tightly, 
larve feed on 
wood, but the 
beetles are often 
met with on trees 
and bushes. They 
are far more 
abundant in warm 
countries than in 
cold. 
and ate sometimes truncated. The 
Cerambyx 
heros, which is 
black, with brown 
tips to the elytra, 
is one of the lar- 
gest of the Eu- 
ropean — species, 
but is not British. 
Its antenne are 
twice as long as 
or 4 years in ae 
the interior of 5 ip 
old oak-trees. bg 
The beetle ze et pS 
emerges from whe 
the pupa in July, but only flies about at night. 
Rosalia alpina is black, thickly 
clothed with pale ashy grey pubes- 
cence. It is a very handsome beetle, 
which is only found in the Alps, where 
the larva lives in dead beech trees. 
Fig. x. Prionus coriarius 1s 
brownish black, with a broad thorax 
armed with three short teeth on each 
side. It is found on old willows and poplars, and is 
much more abundant on the Continent than in England. 
Fig. w. Acanthocinus @dilts is remarkable for 
its very long antenne, which in the male are four 
or five times as long as the body. It is found on 
fallen pine-trunks, and as the larva feeds on the 
wood, the beetle is sometimes met with in new 
houses. It is found in many parts of Northern and 
Central Europe, including Scotland. 
Family XXVIL Chrysomelide. (Golden Apple 
Beetles.) Body oval, longer than the filiform antennae. 
The larvae feed on the leaves of various plants. 
Fig. y. Criocerts merdigera is black, with red 
thorax and elytra. It is fond of the white lily. 
The Colorado Potato-Beetle (Leptenotarsa decem- 
Zineata) is reddish yellow, with the tips of the an- 
tenne and the legs black. The 7 
elytra are yellow with black stripes, 
and the wings are red, a very un- 
usual character ina beetle. The beetle 
is indigenous in the Rocky Mountains 
of North America, where it feeds on 
wild So/anacee, but of late years has 
attacked the potato, and spread over 
the whole of the United States. ‘The 
larva feeds on the leaves of the potato, and after three 
weeks, buries itself in the ground to become a pupa. 
Family XXVIII. Caccinellide (Lady-Birds). The 
body is round, convex above, and flattened beneath. 
The antennz are short and filiform, and the tarsi 
three-jointed. Both the beetles and their larvae feed 
on plant-lice (Aphzdes). 
Fig. z. The Seven-spot Lady-bird (Coccinella 
septempunctata) is abundant everywhere. It is black, 
and the elytra are red, with seven black spots. When 
touched, it emits a dark yellow fluid. Sometimes it 
migrates from place to place in vast swarms. 



