27 



yellow), and a little paler on the lower surface. The disk of the thorax 

 is dark brown, with a wide bright band each .side, and the elytra are 

 ornamented with rich brown marking's of variable size and extent, 



THE CHINQUAPIN WEEVIL. 



Balaninus probosddeus Fab. 



The chinquapin weevil or larger chestnut weevil (fig;. 6) is consider- 

 ably the larger and more robust, while the female rostrum or snout, 

 although proportionately of about the same length, is a little more 

 prominent because less curved, the curvature being toward the tip, and 

 more widened at the base. The first joint of the antenna proper 

 (omitting the scape or long joint nearest the head) is shorter than the 

 second, and the mesosternum is less convex. The body measures from 

 one-third to nearly one-half 

 of an inch in length, and the 

 snout of the female is some- 

 times five-eighths of an inch 

 long. That of the male is 

 nearly as long as the elytra. 



Occasional individuals lack 

 the darker markings, some 

 being paler while others are 

 darker, even reddish. The 

 ground color, as may be seen 

 in abraded specimens, is really 

 black, and the color is due to 

 scales very similar to those of 

 butterflies and moths. 



The egg of this species, or, 

 for that matter, of the genus, 



has apparently escaped observation, since no descript 

 made of it. 



The larva of 2>roboscidem (fig. 7, a) is slightly different from the 

 normal curculionid in form. It is milk white, robust, fully three times 

 as long as wide, the upper surface rounded and convex; the sides are 

 somewhat flattened, and the lower surface is much flattened when the 

 larva is at rest on a smooth surface. The entire surface is very 

 strongly wrinkled transversely, and there are a very few short hairs 

 scattered sparsely over the different segments. The spiracles are 

 irregularly rounded and rather prominent. The head (fig. 7. lj) is 

 nearly circular or slighth T longer than wide, pale yellowish brown, 

 marked with the usual inverted Y-spot, and the mouth parts are mostly 

 black or very dark brown. The first thoracic segment has a narrow 

 pale yellow cervical plate divided at the middle, and nearly twice as 



Fig. G. — Chinquapin weevil {Balaninus probosddeus): 

 a, female beetle; b, same in outline from side; o, head, 

 rostrum and antenna of male, three times natural size 



(original). 



has been 



