34 
THE CORN-CURCUL10— (Sphenophorus zess)—' Walsh. 
This curculio, which was first described by Mr. Walsh, is oblong- 
oval and sub-cjdindrical, the length about one-third ot an inch exclu¬ 
sive of the snout, the width about two-fifths the length. It is of a 
brownish-black or black color, the punctures being more or less filled 
with pale yellow or grayish powder, the thorax having on the middle 
a diamond-shaped polished space. The snout is about one-third the : 
length of the body and very slender. 
The larva is unknown, but the beetle occasionally does considerable 
injury to corn by puncturing tfo% young plant near the ground, and 
riddling it with little holes. TbWextend their operations even be¬ 
low the surface of the ground. Tffltea matter of course, exhausts 
the plant and causes it to wither ai^d dyfc I am inclined to think 
this species will be found most abund&igfand injurious in moist situa¬ 
tions, and Riley remarks that he haj^fKd it in great numbers on the 
lake beach at Chicago. . . , 
If it should become very troublesoiHeat anytime it is possible that 
it may be driven off by applications offline or guano. 
Spec. char. Imago .—Color black, often obsJ|fed by yellowish matter 
adhering to the hollow places, whicl^fowever, can be partially 
washed off. Head finely punctured towards the base, with a large di¬ 
lated puncture between the eyes above, ^nout one-third as lcng as 
the bodv, of uniform diameter, as fine stout horse-hair and. curved 
downwards. Before the middle of the thorax a polished diamond¬ 
shaped space, prolonged in a short line in front and in a long line 
behind, and on each side of this, an irregularly defined polished space 
somewhat in the form of an inverted Y; the rest of the thorax occu¬ 
pied by very large punctures, which fade into finer and sparser ones 
on the polished spaces. Wing-cases with rows of still larger punc 
tures placed very wide apart in the usual grooves or striae; the sutu¬ 
ral interstice, that between the second and third striae, and that be¬ 
tween the fourth and fifth striae wider than the rest, elevated, and 
occupied by very fine punctures; a small elongated-oval polished spot 
on the shoulder, and another near the tip of the wing-case. Beneath, 
polished, and with punctures as large as those of the thorax. Comes 
very near Sphenophorus truncatus , Say, but the snout is not ‘‘attenuated 
at the tip” and has no “ elongated groove at base above ;’ and, more¬ 
over, nothing is said in the description of that species of the verj 
large and conspicuous punctures found in the elytral striae of our 
species. . . . , 
Length about three-tenths of an inch exclusive ol snout. 
T1IE ROSE-BUG —(Macrodactylus subspinoms)—F abr. 
This beetle, which is fully described in my former report, is about 
one-third of an inch long, rather slender and sub-cylindrical in iorm. 
The antennae, as in the May-beetles, are short, with a distinct club 
at the end composed of three plates or leaves opening like the leaves 
