Beetles of British Guiana. 73 
use the wing-cases of this handsome beetle in making 
ornaments. Tearing the elytra from the back of the 
insect they pierce them with a hole at the humeral angle, 
and thread them on strings like beads. In this way they 
make for themselves anklets, armlets, and necklaces. 
From an examination of the wing-cases in one of these 
ornaments which I sent to Dr. GRIERSON'S Museum in 
Thornhill, Scotland, Dr. David Sharp concluded that 
more than one variety of this species of Buprestidae might 
be found in Demerara. 
The Tetramera or Four-jointed division of beetles 
contains among other things the Curculionidse, Rhina, 
Rhynchites, and Rhynchophora, i.e. Weevils and Snout- 
bearing Beetles, among which are some of the most 
destructive inse6ts of the Beetle Family. Prominent 
among the Weevils of Guiana is the Calandra pahnarum 
or Palm Weevil which often commits such havoc among 
our palm trees. This beetle is rather more than an inch 
long, and has a strong beak. It deposits its eggs in the 
soft parts of the stem of cocoanut trees, near the top, 
where they are soon hatched, and the larvae are pro- 
tected and concealed by the imbrication of the lower 
part of the fronds. These insects are very voracious 
and eat vigorously into the soft stem of the cocoanut 
tree, their presence being generally unknown, until the 
branches of the tree begin to droop and fall off. This is 
the reason why the stems of some of our cocoanut trees 
are striated vertically with rough irregular furrows. In 
many districts the cocoanut trees have to be watched, 
and periodically cleaned to prevent their being des- 
troyed by this insect. When full grown the grub is from 
two to three inches long and is either of a flesh colour 
K 
