252 
BRITISH BEETLES. 
The Otiorrhynchin.® are distinguished by the fact 
that the perfect insect as it emerges from the pupa is 
provided with a pair of false mandibles, which soon 
fall off, but may sometimes be noticed in fresh speci- 
mens ; a scar, however, is always left at the apex of 
the rostrum, so that the fact of their having existed is 
not difficult to determine; in Ccenopsis fissirostris 
these deciduous mandibles are large and hooked, and 
in many species they appear to be conspicuous. 
The characters of the various tribes into which this 
sub-family has been divided need not here be discussed, 
as they are somewhat abstruse : Otiorrhynchus and 
its allies (which include Phyllobius, Trachyphloeus, &c.) 
have the basal joint of the antennae reaching beyond 
the back of the eyes, the funiculus with usually seven 
joints, and the rostral scrobes variable, but never at 
the same time linear and directed downwards, the 
rostrum itself being short, stout, and nearly horizontal. 
In many of the genera the winglets, or lateral pro- 
jections at the apex of the rostrum, are much de- 
veloped. 
Such of their larvae as are known are moderately 
elongate, fleshy, feebly tuberculated at the sides, set 
with short hairs, and legless ; and the pupae do not 
appear to be enclosed in a cocoon. 
In Phyllobius, which much resembles Polydrosus, the 
scutellum and wings are present, the hooks of the tarsi 
are soldered, and the scrobes of the rostrum are nearly 
always very short. The species are very abundant on 
nettles, &c., and, when fresh, are thickly clothed with 
bright golden green scales, which, however, readily rub 
off. One of them, P. argentatus, is a common object for 
the microscope, owing to the beauty of its covering ; 
