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THE PALM WEEVIL. 
also belong to the Weevils, and are the larvae of the Nut Weevil ( Balaninus nucum). All 
the members of this genus are remarkable for the extraordinary length of the snout, at the 
extremity of which are placed the powerful jaws. Fig. a shows the beetle in its natural size, 
while in the other figures it is magnified. A foreign species, a 
native of Cayenne, is termed Balaninus proboscideus, and is also 
remarkable for the inordinate length of the carved snout. 
While the nut is yet soft and undeveloped, the female Weevil 
bores a hole at the base of the fruit, deposits an egg therein, and 
makes the best of her way to another nut, which she treats in a 
similar manner. As the nut increases, the young grub feeds on 
the interior of the nut, which is at first soft and milky, so as 
to suit its infant needs, and by degrees hardens into a fruity 
substance more fit for it after its jaws and digestive organs have 
acquired strength. After it has attained its full growth, it gnaws 
a round hole through the shell of the nut, allows itself to drop to 
the ground, buries itself below the surface, and in the ensuing 
autumn emerges in the perfect form. 
The common Corn Weevil ( Calandra granaria ) is perhaps 
the most destructive of its tribe, its depredations far exceeding those of 
the insects that destroy nuts, acorns, apples, cherries, flowers, and other 
vegetables. This pest of corn-dealers is of very small size, not larger 
than the capital letter at the beginning of this sentence, and is therefore 
able to make its way through very small crevices. Like the preceding 
species, it passes its larval existence within the grain on which it feeds, 
devours the whole of the interior, and then, gnawing its way through the 
shell, becomes transformed in process of time into its perfect shape, which 
is that of a little long-beaked W^ eevil of dull red color, which, however, 
under the microscope, is singularly beautiful. 
Many species belonging to this destructive genus are equally plentiful 
all over the world, and equally injurious. There seems, indeed, to be no 
vegetable substance that is not eaten by the Weevils, which appear to 
have a peculiar liking for those that are used for human food. Almost 
every article has its peculiar Weevil. There is the Rice Weevil, 
for example ( Calandra oryzce ), known from the previous species by the 
four red spots on the elytra, which is nearly as destructive towards rice 
and Indian corn as the Corn Weevil towards wheat. 
One of the largest species is a native of the West Indies, and is 
known by the name of the Palm Weevil ( Calandra palmar urn). This 
huge Weevil sometimes attains the length of two inches, and its color is a 
dull, velvet-like black. The larva of this large beetle is a great fat white grub, called gru- 
gru by the negroes, and considered by them to be a great dainty. The more educated 
inhabitants know this grub by the name of Ver palmiste. This grub is especially fond of 
the newly planted canes, and is sometimes so terribly destructive among them that a fresh 
planting becomes necessary. When this creature is about to attain its pupal condition, it 
weaves for itself a kind of cocoon formed from the fibres of the plant in which it lives. 
Before noticing the long-horned insects, we must briefly mention a terribly destructive 
family of beetles, that are certainly allied to the Weevils, but wdiose precise degree of relation- 
ship does not seem to be very accurately understood. 
To this family belongs the far-famed Ecolytus destructor , a little dull colored insect, 
insignificant in appearance, but able to lay low the loftiest elm that ever reared its leafy head. 
Hundreds of the finest trees have fallen victims to the devouring teeth of this tiny beetle, a 
creature hardly the sixth of an inch in length. These insects not only burrow into the trees for 
the purpose of obtaining food, but therein they deposit their eggs, and therein are the young 
larvae hatched. 
NUT WEEVIL. —Balaninus 
nucum. a. Laying eggs. b. 
Back. c. Head. (The line 
indicates the natural length.) 
