384 



THE PALM WEEVIL. 



also belong to the Weevils, and are the larvae of the Nut Weevil (Balaniiius nucvm). All 

 the members of this genus are remarkable for the extraordinary length of the snout, at the 

 extremity of which are placed the powerful jaws. Fig. a shows the beetle in its natural size, 



while in the other figures it is magnified. A foreign species, a 

 native of Cayenne, is termed Balaninus proboscideus, and is also 

 remarkable for the inordinate length of the carved snout. 



While the nut is yet soft and undeveloped, the female Weevil 

 bores a hole at the base of the fruit, deposits an egg therein, and 

 makes the best of her way to another nut, which she treats in a 

 similar manner. As the nut increases, the young grub feeds on 

 the interior of the nut, which is at first soft and milky, so as 

 to suit its infant needs, and by degrees hardens into a fruity 

 substance more fit for it after its jaws and digestive organs have 

 acquired strength. After it has attained its full growth, it gnaws 

 a round hole through the shell of the nut, allows itself to drop to 

 the ground, buries itself below the surface, and in the ensuing 

 autumn emerges in the perfect form. 



The common Corn Weevil (Calandra granaria) is perhaps 

 the most destructive of its tribe, its depredations far exceeding those of 

 the insects that destroy nuts, acorns, apples, cherries, flowers, and other 

 vegetables. This pest of corn-dealers is of very small size, not larger 

 than the capital letter at the beginning of this sentence, and is therefore 

 able to make its way through very small crevices. Like the preceding 

 species, it passes its larval existence within the grain on which it feeds, 

 devours the whole of the interior, and then, gnawing its way through the 

 shell, becomes transformed in process of time into its perfect shape, which 

 is that of a little long-beaked Weevil of dull red color, which, however, 

 under the microscope, is singularly beautiful. 



Many species belonging to this destructive genus are equally plentiful 

 all over the world, and equally injurious. There seems, indeed, to be no 

 vegetable substance that is not eaten by the Weevils, which appear to 

 have a peculiar liking for those that are used for human food. Almost 

 every article lias its peculiar Weevil. There is the Rice Weevil, 

 for example [Calandra oryzce), known from the previous species by the 

 four red spots on the elytra, which is nearly as destructive towards rice 

 and Indian corn as the Corn Weevil towards wheat. 



One of the largest species is a native of the West Indies, and is 

 known by the name of the Palm Weevil (Calandra palmarum). This 

 huge Weevil sometimes attains the length of two inches, and its color is a 

 dull, velvet-like black. The larva of this large beetle is a great fat white grub, called gru- 

 gru by the negroes, and considered by them to be a great dainty. The more educated 

 inhabitants know this grub by the name of Ver pain/ isle. This grub is especially fond of 

 the newly planted canes, and is sometimes so terribly destructive among them that a fresh 

 planting becomes necessary. When this creature is about to attain its pupal condition, it 

 weaves for itself a kind of cocoon formed from the fibres of the plant in which it lives. 



Before noticing the long-horned insects, we must briefly mention a terribly destructive 

 family of beetles, that are certainly allied to the Weevils, but whose precise degree of relation- 

 ship does not seem to be very accurately understood. 



To this family belongs the far-famed Scolytus (Instructor, a little dull colored insect, 

 insignificant in appearance, but able to lay low the loftiest elm that ever reared its leafy head. 

 Hundreds of the finest trees have fallen victims to the devouring teeth of this tiny beetle, a 

 creature hardly the sixth of an inch in length. These insects not only burrow into the trees for 

 the purpose of obtaining food, but therein they deposit their eggs, and therein are the young 

 larvge hatched. 



NUT WEEVIL. —Balaninus 

 nvcum. a. Laying eggs. 6. 

 B:nk c. H'ad. (The line 

 indicates the natural lengl h.) 



