COLEOPTERA. 
I r 
539 
I All these insects feed upon vegetable substances. Their larvae have generally short feet, or 
I they are wanting and replaced by fleshy lobes in a great number. The perfect insect is found 
I I upon the flowers or leaves of plants. I divide this section into seven families ; the larvae of the 
I first four or five live mostly hidden in the interior of vegetables, and are generally deprived of 
I feet, or have them very minute ; many of them devouring the hard and ligneous particles. These 
beetles are the largest of the section, 
THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE COLEOPTERA TETRAMERA,— 
The Weevils {Rhyncophora ), — 
Is distinguished by the anterior elongation of the head, which forms a sort of muzzle or proboscis ; the 
majority have the abdomen thick, and the antennae elbowed and often clavate ; the penultimate joint 
i of the tarsi is nearly always bilobed, and the posterior femora are toothed in the majority. 
I ' The larvae have the body oblong, like a very soft white worm, with a scaly head, and destitute of 
feet, or having only small fleshy tubercles in their stead. They devour different parts of vegetables ; many 
live entirely in the interior of fruits or seeds, and often commit great havoc ; their pupae are inclosed 
;j in a cocoon. Many Rhyncophorae also injure us in the perfect state, when they happen to become very 
Ij numerous in certain limits. They puncture the buds or leaves of various cultivated plants, and feed 
I upon their parenchyme. 
[If Latreille, in the second edition of this work, found it necessary to state that he was compelled 
to omit many minute details occasioned by the works of Germar and Schonherr, the latter published 
in 1826, how much more necessary is it to do this now that Schonherr's great work has appeared upon 
the Weevils, occupying ten thick octavo volumes.] 
Some have the labrum distinct ; the anterior elongated part of the head short, broad, depressed, and 
] muzzle-shaped ; the palpi very distinct, filiform, or thickened at the tip. They compose the genus — 
Bruchus, Linn., — 
Which is thus divided Those species with the antennae thickened at the tips, the eyes not notched, and which • 
have five joints in the four anterior tarsi, form the subgenus Rhinosimus, which we have from the latter character 
placed in the Heteromera. 
Tliose with similar antennae and eyes, but with only four joints in all the tarsi, the penultimate joint being bilobed, 
form that of 
I Anthribus, Geoff, of which the species are found in old wood, or amongst flowers. 
Bruchus proper, has the antennae filiform, often serrated or pectinated, and the eyes entire ; the anus is naked, 
I and the hind feet generally very large. 
I The female deposits an egg in the young and tender germ of various leguminose or cereal plants, palms, &c., 
I upon which the larva feeds, and within which it undergoes its transformations : the perfect insect, in order to 
I make its escape, detaches a portion of the epidermis like a small cup ; hence the small holes too often observed in 
peas, dates, &c. The perfect insect is found upon flowers. 
Bruchus Pisi, Linn., is two lines long, black, with grey spots on the elytra; it does great mischief in certain 
years [to peas], especially in North America. [The genus is very extensive.] 
Urodon, Sch. [Bruchela, Meg.], differs in having the three terminal joints of the antennae thickened. 
Rhcebus, Fischer, has the elytra flexible, and the tarsal ungues bifid. R. yebleri, Fis. [a minute beautiful green 
species]. 
Xylophilus, Bonelli, has the palpi terminated by a mass {Anthicus populneus, oculatus, pygmaus). [Some of these 
have been separated by me into the genera Aderus and Englenes in the Zoological Journal ; they appear nearer 
allied to Nothus and other Heteromera.] 
The others have no visible labrum ; the palpi are short, scarcely visible to the naked eye, and of a 
conical form ; the anterior prolongation of the head forms a beak or proboscis. 
Sometimes the antennm are straight, inserted upon the proboscis, and composed of from nine to 
twelve joints. 
Those which have the three or four terminal joints forming a mass, compose the genus — 
Attelabus, Linn., and particularly of Fabricius. 
They devour the leaves or tender parts of vegetables, the females of the majority rolling up the leaves, in which 
they lay their eggs, furnishing also a retreat for their young during the period whilst they are feeding. 
The proportions of the proboscis, the manner in which it is terminated, the tibiae and abdomen, have afforded 
characters for the establishment of four subgenera. 
I 
