THE HICKORY-NUT WEEVIL. 327 
Moth. — Sooty black, the fore-wings with reflections of tawny yellow, blue and 
purple ; their outer edge black, with oblique triangular whitish streaks placed at 
equal distances apart. A very oblique faint silvery blue streak extends inwards 
from the points of two of these white streaks, namely, the fourth and sixth ones 
from the tip of the wing ; while the usual white spot on the inner margin of the 
wings is wanting. Expanse of wings, .60 inch. (Fitch.) 
121. The hickory-nut weevil. 
Balaninus nasicus Say. 
Order Coleoptera ; family Curculionid^e. 
This worm, like the chestnut borer, transforms into a long-snouted 
beetle closely like B. rectus, but with a darker, thicker, more curved 
rostrum, and with the antennae springing from its middle in the male 
and from its basal third in the female. Two thoracic paler bands are 
seen on the thorax, and there is always a pale transverse band behind 
the middle of the elytra, and a sutural baud. In the male the beak is 
equal to three-fourths the length of the body, in the female to five- 
fourths. It breeds entirely on hickory nuts (Riley.) 
Mr. Harrington states that in the neighborhood of Ottawa, Canada, 
this species is never found on the hickory, and frequents the hazel almost 
entirely. Some years it is very numerous on these bushes, and the nuts 
correspondingly worm-eaten. 
The beetle. — It is nearly one-third of an inch long (exclusive of the beak), and of 
an oval shape, being widest across the base of the wing-covers. It is densely clad 
with very short yellowish hairs, and has a somewhat variegated or mottled appear- 
ance, especially on the elytra, due to patches of darker hairs. The beak is very long, 
slender, curved, and almost black. (Harrington.) 
Mr. Harrington states that B. rectus is much rarer in the neighborhood 
of Ottawa, and usurps the claim of B. nasicus to be considered the 
hickory-nut weevil, while a few specimens occurred on the oak. He 
remarks that B. rectus is of the same size as the preceding species, but 
much lighter in color, and distinguished by its more slender and less 
curved beak, which in the female is longer than the whole body. (Rep. 
Bnt. Soc. Ottawa for 1883, p. 51.) 
122. Tortrix sp. ? 
Family Tortrichxe ? ; order Lepidoptera. 
Found October 4 to 9, eating a dark mine in the skin of the shell of 
the walnut itself, making a tunnel, I think a longitudinal one, along 
one of the quarters of the skin ; of about the size of the body, but of 
irregular thickness. 
Larva. — Body short and thick, tapering a little towards the end, and somewhat 
hairy. Head and prothoracic shield honey-yellow ; the shield paler than the head, 
which is dark towards the mouth-parts. Body dull white ; each segment with two 
transverse dorsal ridges, on which are setiferous warts. Length, 7 mm . 
