108 ORDER COLEOPTERA. 



Genus PISSODES ( Germ.). 

 Antennae situated a little in advance of the middle of the rostrum. 



PiSSODES STROBI. 



Brown, with two hoary patches on the posterior extremity of the elytra and upon the 

 middle of the thighs ; somewhat hoary beneath. 



The Rhyxcophora, as they are termed, constitute a very extensive group of coleopterous 

 insects ; some of which, as already seen, have acquired the popidar name of weevil. Many 

 species are destructive to grain and the seeds of leguminous plants. The larva of the large 

 Sphenophorus palmarum of the tropics lives in the trunk of palm trees ; and the palmetto 

 (Chamarops palmetto) of our Southern States is inhabited by an allied species, the Spheno- 

 phorus zimmermanni of Schce.nherr, which is the largest member of the family known to 

 inhabit the United States. 



Hylobius pales is a common member of a genus which destroys pine trees, by burrowing 

 beneath and loosening the bark. In April and May, it may be seen in considerable num- 

 bers upon wooden fences : it is brown, marked irregularly with small whitish spots. 

 Towards the south, this species and Hylobius picivorus, which is larger and more robust, 

 destroy pine forests entirely, leaving the dead standing or fallen trees as monuments of 

 the mischief which a small insect can commit when sufficiently multiplied. 



The female of Pissodes nemorensis of Germar, according to Dr. Harris, pierces the 

 leading shoot of the white pine for the purpose of depositing its eggs ; and although a pine 

 tree may recover by sending up a lateral branch in the vertical direction, it will require 

 three or four years to pass through this process, and the growth in consequence be retarded. 

 This insect is named Pissodes strobi by Dr. Harris, on the strength of a name given to it 

 by a Mr. Peck in an agricultural journal ; which of course can have no weight, because 

 such publications are unknown or inaccessible to naturalists who are not farmers, and 

 seldom circulate beyond the boundaries of the district in which they are printed. It is too 

 much to expect an entomologist in London, Calcutta, Berlin, Paris, or the city of New- 

 Y< >rk, to purchase an extensive series of expensive volumes to enable him to find descrip- 

 tions of half a dozen insects said to be contained in them, and which should have been 

 made known through some other channel. 



Genus BALANINUS (Germ.). Curotlio (Lin.). 

 ' Rostrum nearly as long as the body, which is subtriangular : anterior tibiae minutely 

 • hooked : antenna? inserted behind the rostrum ' ( Stephens). 



