COLEOPTERA. 
149 
neath, and without claws at the end. The female, on the other hand, is a grub-like 
creature, without legs, wings, or eyes. She never leaves the body of her host, and 
from her eggs active little six-legged larvae develop, which make their way out 
and get carried into the nests of bees and wasps, where they bore into the bodies 
of the grubs. The Stylopidce are very rarely seen, and the number of species 
known is small. They have been arranged in four or five genera, based upon 
slight differences in the structure of the males, all of which have the general 
appearance shown in our figure of Xenos peckii. 
SECTION TETRAMERA, 
The Curculionidce or weevils are distinguished from all other beetles by a 
few well-marked characters. The head is always produced in front in the form 
either of a short muzzle or a more or less elongated and 
narrow beak, which carries the mouth at its extremity; the 
prothorax rarely has sharp lateral edges, and the coxal cavities 
on the under side of that segment are always closed in behind 
by the extension inwards of the epimera to meet in the middle 
line ; and the antennae are elbowed, with the first joint as a rule 
long, and some of the joints at the end forming a club. Though 
agreeing in a few essential characters, the weevils present 
considerable variety, not only in the form and structure of 
different parts, but also in the general shape of the body. 
They have been arranged in a number of subfamilies, but it 
is impossible in a limited space to describe the various modifi¬ 
cations of structure on which these divisions are based, and we 
must content ourselves here with a brief reference to some of 
the typical and more interesting forms. In the genus 
Sitones, we have examples of those weevils in which the 
snout is short and comparatively broad. S. lineatus is 
a well - known species which lives on papilionaceous 
plants, and frequently does much mischief by devouring 
the young leaves of peas and beans. It is a little 
yellowish grey or drab-coloured beetle with three pale 
lines along the thorax, and a number of rows of 
punctures along the elytra. Its colour is due to a thick 
covering of scales, some of which, when looked at closely, 
are seen to have a golden tint. 
Weevils are, as a rule, most destructive during the 
larval state, the adult insects doing a comparatively 
small amount of injury to vegetation; but as regards 
Hylobius abietis, known as “ the large pine-weevil,” one 
of the worst enemies of young conifers, the injury done 
to the trees is altogether the work of the beetles, while 
the grubs are quite harmless. The genus Apion com¬ 
prises a large number of little, long - snouted weevils, 
PINE-WEEVIL, "WITH LARVA AND 
PUPA. 
Sitones lineatus and 
allied species. 
