THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



357 



more than 300,000 bushels of wheat in the granaries of 

 Europe. 



In respect to their migrations the crustaceans have been 

 Kttle studied; we only know that some animals of this 



196. Corn-weevil. 1, Grain of wheat, showing the punctured hole; and .5, the exit of 

 the perfect Weevil. 2, Pupa (natural size) ; 3, magnified. 4, Grain of Indian Corn, with 

 Weevil inside. 6 and 7, Corn-weevil (Calandra granaria), natural size and magnified. 

 8 and 9, Rice-weevil [C. oryzif), natural size and magnified. 



class, of strange habits, perform some very singular jour- 

 neys ; these are the large crabs called land-crabs. Formed 

 like their congeners to respire water by means of branchiae 

 or gills, they yet live on land, and are met with in compact 



puncture through the skiii of one of the grains, and there deposits her eggs, one 

 only in each grain. The hole is not perpendicular to the surface, but runs 

 oblic£uely, or even parallel to it, and the small aperture is closed by her excre- 

 ment. The eggs, then, are safe even if the grain be moved about. The maggots 

 soon hatch and feed upon the contents of the grain, until the husk alone is left, 

 which lasts them until they have arrived at maturity and changed to pupfe. In 

 about six to eight weeks from the time of impregnation the perfect weevil is 

 produced, which eats its way through tlie husk, and is then ready to propagate 

 its species. In five months a pair of weevils have been known to prodnee G04.j 

 individuals, each of which required for its cradle a grain of the farmer's cropi. 

 Owing to the workmanlike manner in which the femaje deposits her eggs, it is 

 very difficult to detect their presence in the grain, ■which is generally not dis- 

 covered until the perfect animals ate seen walking over the heap, when the 

 empty husks are readily picked out. Their specific gravity being much lighter 

 than sound grains, they may always be discovered if placed in a basin of water — 

 the sound grains sinking, and these floating on the surface. — Our Farm Crops, 

 by John Wilson, F.E.S.E. 



