The Life of the Weevil 
Their final transformation will tell me that I 
really have the authentic larva of the Cionus 
before my eyes. 
They are bare, legless grubs, of a uniform 
pale yellow, excepting the head, which is 
black, and the first segment of the thorax, 
which is adorned with two large black spots. 
They are varnished all over their bodies with 
a glutinous humour, so much so that they 
stick to the paint-brush used to collect them 
and are difficult to shake off. When teased, 
they omit from the end of their intestine a 
viscous fluid, apparently the origin of their 
varnish. 
They wander idly over the young twigs, 
whose bark they gnaw down to the wood; 
they also browse on the leaves growing 
from the twigs, which are much smaller than 
those upon the ground. Having found a 
good grazing-place, they stay there without 
moving, curved into a bow and held in 
position by their glue. Their walk is an 
undulating crawl, based upon the support 
of their sticky behind. Helpless cripples, 
but coated with an adhesive varnish, they 
are firmly enough fixed to resist a shake of 
the bough that bears them without falling 
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