16 
CLOVER. 
regarding time of feeding of the Sitona Beetles, which may be of 
practical service relatively to means of prevention. 
These small Weevils are of the shape figured much magnified below, 
and, when freshly developed, striped or variously marked with white, 
greyish, or dusky minute scales ; but as these are easily rubbed off, the 
dark specimens are often almost similar in appearance, from the 
absence of characteristic marks on the black ground. They do (as has 
long been known) immense mischief to the leafage of young Peas and 
Beans, as well as to Clover, by feeding on the leaves, scooping the 
edges gradually away in more or less semicircular patches, as shown 
above in the figure of an injured Pea-leaf. So far as I am aware, it 
has generally been supposed that this mischief was done by day. 
SlTONA CRINITA AND S. LINEATA. 
1 and 2, S. crinita ; B and 4, S. lineata, nat. size and mag.; 5, leaf notched by 
Sitona Weevils. 
John Curtis states in his 4 Farm Insects,’ p. 843, regarding attack of 
these Weevils noticed near Hertford at the end of March, 1844, that:— 
“At this period of the year they issued from the ground, from nine to 
ten o’clock in the morning, to feed all day upon the peas; and they 
retired under the clods of earth on the approach of evening.” At 
pp. 344 and 345 of the same work, a long observation of the method 
of attack of these Beetles is quoted by John Curtis, in which the 
difficulty of obtaining a sight of their method of feeding (on account of 
their extreme shyness under observation) is specially noticed, but that 
after long waiting they were then “ observed to feed by taking the edge 
of the leaf and holding it steadily between their legs” whilst they 
devoured it as described. From these and other observations it does 
not appear to be open to doubt that a portion of their feeding is done 
by daylight, but that they are to some extent night-feeders also appears 
from the following note with which I was favoured on September 30tli 
by the Kev. Theodore Wood :— 
“ It is commonly stated that the Sitones Weevils feed only by day, 
concealing themselves under clods of earth, &c., during the hours 
