THE ATTELABIANS. 
65 
the beetles in the spring ; and the Baltimore oriole or hang- 
bird splits open the green pods for the sake of the grubs con¬ 
tained in the peas, thereby contributing greatly to prevent 
the increase of these noxious insects. The instinct that en¬ 
ables this beautiful bird to detect the lurking grub, concealed, 
as the latter is, within the pod and the hull of the pea, is 
worthy our highest admiration ; and the goodness of Provi- • 
dence, Avhich has endowed it with this faculty, is still further 
shown in the economy of the insects also, which, through 
His prospective care, are not only limited in the season of 
their depredations, but are instinctively taught to spare the 
germs of the peas, thereby securing a succession of crops 
for our benefit and that of their own progeny. 
The Attelabians (Attelabid^) are distinguished from the 
Bruchians by the form and greater length of the head, which 
is a little inclined, and ends with a snout, sometimes short 
and thick, and sometimes long, slender, and curved. The 
eyes also are round and entire, and the antennae are usually 
implanted near the middle of the snout. The larvae re¬ 
semble those of most of the snout-beetles, being short, thick, 
whitish grubs, with horny heads, the rings of the body very 
much hunched, and deprived of legs, the place of which is 
supplied by fleshy warts along the under-side of the body. 
Some of the European insects of this family are known to be 
very injurious to the leaves, fruits, and seeds of plants. 
The different kinds of Attelabus are said to roll up the 
edges of leaves, thereby forming little nests, of the shape and 
size of thimbles, to contain their eggs, and to shelter their 
young, which afterwards devour the leaves. Fig. 32 . 
The larvae and habits of our native species 
are unknown to me. The most common one 
here is the Attelabus analis of Weber (Fig. 
32), or the red-tailed Attelabus. It is one 
quarter of an inch long from the tip of the 
thick snout to the end of the body. The 
head, which is nearly cylindrical, the antennae, legs, and 
9 
