l 5 2 
INSECTS. 
palm-weevil (nat. size.) 
species, but belong to a subfamily (the Calandrince), which includes a number of 
the largest tropical weevils, such as the palm-weevil {Rhynchophorus palmarurn). 
The Scolytidce and two other small families, the 
Brenthidce and Anthribidce, are associated with the 
weevils in the tribe Rhynchophora. The Scolytidce 
are little beetles which live under bark, and often 
prove very injurious to trees. They have four 
jointed tarsi, clubbed antennae, and the head pro¬ 
duced in front into a short muzzle. The females 
lay their eggs along the sides of galleries which 
they burrow out under the bark; the larvae when 
hatched make tracks at right angles to the mother- 
galleries, and thus form curious and characteristic 
patterns. 
The Cerambyciclce, or Longicorns have in most 
cases a characteristic appearance by which they may 
be easily recognised, though, owing to a great variety 
in their form and structure, the family as a whole 
is not easily defined. Thus the great length of the 
antennae to which these beetles owe their name is not always a distin¬ 
guishing feature, for in many genera the antennae are much shorter than 
the body. The Longicorns resemble the Rhynchophora in having the first 
three joints of the tarsi furnished underneath with a brush-like covering of 
hairs, and the fourth joint very small and hidden between the lobes of the 
third; but they are distinguished from that tribe by the fact that the epimera 
of the prothorax do not meet, 
while the head, though some¬ 
times produced into a short 
muzzle, is never prolonged in 
the form of a beak. The larvae 
all have a strong family like¬ 
ness, and are quite unlike those 
of the Chrysomelidce. They 
are of a dirty-white or pale 
yellow colour, with a rather 
soft skin, and in general form 
most resemble the larvae of 
Buprestidce. These larvae all 
live in the interior of plants; 
some feeding just under the 
bark, while the great majority 
bore tunnels in the woody tissue, or live exclusively in the pith. The males have as 
a rule longer antennae than the females, and may often be distinguished by the 
larger size of the eyes, jaws, or prothorax, or the greater length of the legs. The 
females are provided with a flexible ovipositor, which can be protruded some distance 
beyond the end of the bod}!. In the subfamily Prionince the anterior coxae are 
Hylotrupes bajulus, with larva (nat. size). 
