782 
Annual Report for 1894 of the Zoologist. 
sprinkled wherever the weevil is known to be, and particularly 
on waste heaps, and the building is closed as tightly as possible. 
It is also recommended that a “ quarantine ” bin be erected for 
the treatment of grain as soon as it arrives, after which it can be 
transferred to other cribs. 
One pound of the bi-sulphide is found to be sufficient for 100 
bushels of grain. The best results were obtained with “ Fuma ” bi- 
sulphide, manufactured by E. R. Taylor, Cleveland, Ohio, the cost of 
which was 5 d. a pound. 
A New Black -Currant Weevil. 
Phyllobius calcaratus, Fabr. ; glaucus, Scop. 
On May 1 2 specimens were sent of a weevil which was said to be 
doing serious damage to black-currant 
bushes near Bewdley. On exami- 
nation they proved to be Phyllo- 
bius calcaratus, Fabr. ( glaucus , Scop.), 
a species closely allied to the handsome 
green weevils with a metallic sheen 
which are so commonly to be seen 
upon nettles. 
In 1889 Miss Ormerod reported 
another species of Phyllobius (P. 
maculicornis), as injurious to fruit- 
trees near Sittingbourne. 
The present beetle can in general 
be distinguished from the common 
nettle weevil (P. alneti) by its reddish 
legs and antennse. F or a more accurate 
account of the differences we may quote Walton, Annals, and Maga- 
zine of Nat. Hist. vol. xvii. : — 
P. calcaratus differs from P. alneti in the scales being setaceous-lanceo- 
late; the antenme and their articulations longer and more slender, the 
scape reaching beyond the base of the head ; the third and fourth joints of 
the funiculus distinctly longer ; the thorax less impressed, and constricted 
anteriorly; the scutellum of the form of an isosceles triangle, having the 
apex deeply truncated and rounded, the legs and antennae rufous, rufo- 
ferruginous, or rufo-castaneous. 
No observations are on record with regard to the life-history of 
this particular species, but in all probability it lives in the larval 
and pupal condition at the roots of the bushes, which the mature 
beetle attacks. If this is the case, the chance of the pest recurring 
would be greatly lessened by removing the surface earth during 
the winter, and either burying it deeply, or destroying the contained 
pupae by mixing it with lime ; or lime might be simply dug in under 
the infested bushes. 
There is no better remedy when the beetle is at work than the 
one usually adopted in similar cases, namely, the shaking of the 
bushes over cloths or boards smeared with tar. This operation is 
most successful early in the morning, and upon dull days. 
Phyllobius calcaratus, enlarged and 
natural size. From life. 
