COLEOPTERA. 539 



All these insects feed upon vegetable substances. Tlieir larvae have generally short feet, or 

 tlicy arc wanting and replaced by fleshy lobes in a great number. The perfect insect is found 

 upon the flowers or leaves of plants. I divide this section into seven families ; the larv;e of the 

 first four or five bve mostly hidden in the interior of vegetables, and are generally deprived of 

 feet, or have them very minute ; many of them devouring the hard and ligneous particles. These 

 beetles are the largest of the section. 



THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE COLEOPTERA TETRAMERA,— 



The Weevils (E/iyncop/iora), — 

 Is distinguished by the anterior elongation of the liead, whicli forms a sort of muzzle or proljoscis ; the 

 majority liave the alidomen thick, and the antennae ell^owed and often clavatc ; tlic penultimate joint 

 of the tarsi is nearly always bilol)ed, and the posterior femora are toothed in tlie majority. 



The larvae have the body oblong, like a very soft white worm, with a scaly head, and destitute of 

 feet, or having only small ileshy tubercles in their stead. They devour ditferent parts of vegetables; many 

 live entirely in the interior of fruits or seeds, and often commit great havoc ; their pupse are inclosed 

 in a cocoon. Many RhyncophorEe also injure us in the perfect state, when they happen to become very 

 numerous in certain lin}its. They puncture the buds or leaves of various cultivated plants, and feed 

 upon their parenchyme. 



[If LatreiUe, in the second edition of this work, found it necessary to state that he was compelled 

 to omit many minute details occasioned hy the works of Gcrmar and Schonherr, the latter published 

 in 1820, bow much more necessary is it to do this now that Schonherr's great work has appeared upon 

 the Weevils, occupying ten thick octavo volumes.] 



Some have the labrum distinct; the anterior elongated part of tlie bead short, broad, depressed, and 

 muzzle-shaped ; the palpi very distinct, tibforni, or thickened at the tip. They compose the genus — ■ 



BRUCHU.'i, Lirn., — 

 Vv'liicli is tlms divldeil ; — Those species with the antennte thickened at the tips, the eyes not notched, and \Thicli 

 liuve five joints in the four anterior tarsi, form the subgenus li/iifw.vimus, which we have from tlie latter character 

 l^laced in the Heteromera. 



Those with similar antenna; and eyes, but with only fourjoints in all the tarsi, the penultiraatejoint bein^ bilobed, 

 form that of 



Anthribus, Geolf., of which the species are found in old wood, or amongst flowers. 



Bnirhus propei', has the antenna tiliforra, often serrated or pectinated, and the eyes entire ; the anus is naked, 

 and the hind feet generally very large. 



The female deposits an t^^s, in the young and tender germ of various leguniinose or cereal plants, palms, &c., 

 upon which the larva feeds, and within which it undergoes its transformations : the perfect insect, in order to 

 make its escape, detaches a portion of the epidermis like a small cup ; hence the small holes too often observed in 

 peas, dates, &c. Tlie perfect insect is found upon flowers. 



Bruc/tus Pi^i, Linn., is two lines long, black, with grey spots on the elytra; it does great mischief in certain 

 years [to peas], especially in North America. [The genus is very extensive.] 



Ufodon, Sch. {Bruchela, Meg.], differs in having the three terminal joints of the antenn.T thickened. 



R/ucbtis, Fischer, has the elytra tle.xible, antl the tarsal ungues bitid. R- gcbleri, Fis. [a minute beautiful green 



species]. 



Xijlopliilus, Bonelli, has the palpi terminated by a mass {Anthkus populneus, oculatus, pijgmaus). [Some of these 

 have been separated by rne into the genera Aderus and Engleiies in the Zoological Journal ; they appear nearer 

 allied to Notlius and other Heteromera,] 



The others have no visible labrum; the palpi are short, scarcely visible to the naked eye, and of a 

 conical form ; the anterior prolongatiou of the head forms a beak or proboscis. 



Sometimes the antenna are straight, inserted upon the proboscis, and composed of from nine to 



twelve joints. 



Those which have the three or four terminal joints forming a mass, compose the genus — 



Attelabus, Linn., and particularly of Fabricius. 



They devour the leaves or tender parts of vegetables, the females of the majority rolling up the leaves, in which 

 they lay their eggs, furnishing also a retreat for their young during the period whilst they are feeding. 



The proportions of the proboscis, the manner in which it is terminated, the tibia; and abdomen, have afforded 

 characters for the establishment of four subgenera. 



