66 COLEOPTERA. 



middle of the breast, are deep blue-black ; the thorax, wing- 

 covers, and abdomen are dull red ; the wing-covers, taken 

 together, are nearly square, and are punctured in rows. 

 This beetle is found on the leaves of oak-trees in June and 

 July. 



The two-spotted Attelabus, Attelabus bipustulatus of Fabri- 

 cius, (Plate II. Fig. 6,) is also found on oak-leaves during the 

 same season as the preceding. It is of a deep blue-black 

 color, with a square dull red spot on the shoulders of each 

 wing-cover. It measures rather more than one eighth of an 

 inch, in length. 



Two or three beetles of this family are very hurtful to the 

 vine, in Europe, by nibbling the midrib of the leaves, so that 

 the latter may be rolled up to form a retreat for their young. 

 They also puncture the buds and the tender fruit of this and 

 of other plants. In consequence of the damage caused by 

 them and by their larvae, whole vineyards are sometimes 

 stripped of their leaves, and fruit-trees are despoiled of their 

 foliage and fruits. These insects belong to the genus Ryn- 

 chites, a name given to them in allusion to their snouts. I 

 have not seen any of them on vines or fruit-trees in this 

 country. The largest one found here is the Rynchites bicolor 

 of Fabricius, or two-colored Rynchites. This insect is met 

 with in June, July, and August, on cultivated and wild 

 rose-bushes, sometimes in considerable numbers. That they 

 injure these plants is highly probable, but the nature and 

 extent of the injury is not certainly known. The whole 

 of the upper side of this beetle is red, except the rather 

 long and slender snout, which, together with the antennae, 

 legs, and under-side of the body, is black; it is thickly 

 covered with small punctures, and is slightly downy, and 

 there are rows of larger punctures on the wing-covers. It 

 measures one fifth of an inch from the eyes to the tip of 

 the abdomen. 



The grubs of many kinds of Apion destroy the seeds of 

 plants. In Europe they do much mischief to clover in this 



