100 
Observations on the various Imects 
warm for them ; they retire into the crevices of the walls, into 
the cracks in wood and planks ; sometimes one even finds them 
concealed behind the hangings, indeed wherever they can find a 
safe abode that secures them from the cold, which makes them 
desert the granaries. 
It is, however, wrong to suppose that the weevils remain in a torpid 
state during the whole of winter, to regain, on the return of spring, 
the corn-heaps which they have abandoned, and to commence 
laying eggs there. A general and constant rule amongst insects 
is, that those which have paired die soon afterwards, the males 
almost immediately, the females as soon as they have performed 
their office of laying the eggs, and that they pass the winter in the 
egg or larva state. It is undoubtedly seldom that those which 
have not fulfilled the destiny of nature can brave the rigour of the 
season, and do not perish before the ensuing spring. The 
weevils seem to love darkness and to remain undisturbed, since, 
when they are exposed to the daylight, they scamper off to conceal 
themselves. Such is Olivier's account. 
There is one thing to be borne in mind regarding the corn- 
weevils, namely, that in this country, at least, they are never found 
in corn-fields, the eggs are consequently not laid until after the 
wheat or barley has been threshed out, and the C. OryzcB requires 
a much higher temperature to invigorate it than the C. yranaria 
does ; it is therefore only under very favourable circumstances, 
such as an unusually hot summer and mild winter, or in grana- 
ries naturally warm from local circumstances, or in the close holds 
of ships, that this species can cause any alarm in our temperate 
climate. It is in the East and West Indies far otherwise, and 
even in the south of Europe, as we have seen by the wheat from 
Ancona. Mr. Sells, who had resided in some of the West India 
Islands, stated before the Entomological Society that " C. Oryzcc 
was exceedingly abundant in the stores there, <lestroying great 
quantities of Indian corn and rice, and, to prevent its attacks, it 
was necessary to expose the grain to the sun, and to winnow it 
frequently."* • 
It is the C. granaria which does incredible mischief to our 
stored corn, as may be collected from the remarks already made, 
and barley and malt suffer the most from their inroads. I put 
these beetles into a box with barley, maize, beans, peas, and 
wheat one autumn, and in the spring I found the barley was all 
eaten out, and a few grains of the maize were completely exca- 
vated ; but the wheat, peas, and beans were untouched. On the 
other hand, in December, 1843, I received some wheat and black 
oats from Lynn, in Norfolk, in which the weevils abounded and 
• Transactions of the Entom. Soc, vol. i. p. Ixxviii. 
