Kew : Weevil-Cocoons of the Figworts. 151 



It was formerly supposed that these threads, like those of the 

 larvae of Lepidoptera, Trichoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera 

 came from an oral spinneret ; but it is now known that this is 

 not the case, the matter being- furnished by the anal nipple, 

 from which it is taken and fashioned by the mouth.* In the 

 case of Cionus, there is a statement in Westwood's ' Introduction 

 to the Modern Classification of Insects ' that the cocoon of 

 Cionus scrophularice is formed with open meshes like that of 

 Hypera ; t but this is a mistake. Reaumur, De Geer, Perris, 

 Osborne, Butler, and other writers have described the cocoons 

 of various species of Cionus, and agree in stating- that they are 

 composed, not of threads, but of a continuous membrane. % 



The cocoons of Cionus scrophularice are found on the flower- 

 ing- or fruiting- spikes of the food-plant, occasionally on the 

 leaves, but more commonly on the stems and on the pedicels 

 among the buds, flowers, and seed-vessels, and it often happens 

 that they are placed at the top of a pedicel on or near a withered 

 bud which has been injured by the feeding- larvae. As the larvae 

 are gregarious, many cocoons are often found on a single spike. 

 A spike of Scrophularia aquatica which I gathered at Goulceby 

 had eleven empty cocoons upon it, and there were ten Weevils 

 crouching near. On Scrophularia nodosa at Highgate the 

 cocoons were often more densely packed ; and it sometimes 



* De Geer, 'Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire des Insectes,' V. (1775), 

 pp. 231-4; Kirby and Spence, 'Introduction to Entomology,' II. ( 1 8 1 7 ), 

 p. 298; III. (1826), pp. 215, 224; E. Perris, 4 Notes pour servir a l'Histoire 

 des Phytonomus [ = Hypera] et des Phytobius,' Memoires de l'Academie 

 Nationale de Lyon: Sciences (n.s. ), I. (1851), pp. 93-106; J. A. Osborne, 

 ' On the Cocoons formed by Hypera runiicis and its Parasites, and Cionus 

 scrophularice,' Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, XVI. (1879), pp. 16-8; 

 C. V. Riley, ' The new imported Clover Enemy,' American Naturalist, XV. 

 (1881), pp. 912-4 ; ' The Clover-Leaf Beetle,' Report of the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, 1881 and 1882, pp. 171-9. 



t j. O. Westwood, 'Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects,' 

 I. (1839), P- 343 5 ar| d see Rye, 'British Beetles,' 1866, pp. 194-5. 



X Reaumur, ' Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire des Insectes,' III. (i737)> 

 pp. 31-3; De Geer, torn. cit. (1775), pp. 208-12; Chapuis et Candeze, 

 ' Catalogue des Larves des Coleopteres,' Memoires de la Societe Royale 

 des Sciences de Lie\ge, VIII. (1853), pp. 563-4, quoting Perris, Annales de 

 la Societe Linneenne de Lyon, 1847-9, pp. 291-302; Perris, 1851, I.e.; 

 W. H. G., 'Note on the Betony- Weevil/ Hardwicke's Science-Gossip, [876, 

 pp. 17-8; J. A. Osborne, I.e.; and 'The Cocoon of Cionus scrophularia,' 

 Hardwicke's Science-Gossip, 1880, p. 209; G. Dim mock, 'Standard Natural 

 History,' II. (1884), p. 342; E. A. Butler, 'Curious Cocoons,' Knowledge, 

 XVI. (1893), p. 227; W. W. Fowler, 'British Coleoptera,' V. (1891), p. 323. 



1902 May 1. 



