388 
COLEOPTERA. 
Balanince.—Balaninus Bomfordi, Fst., eats into the unopened buds 
of the banyan tree and feeds on the inside ; with their very slender 
curved beaks they make neat punctures and many buds wither. The larva) 
are found in the fleshy receptacles of the fig, which they destroy so 
that the fig falls off. We figure this species, which represents the 
group in the plains, and B. C, album , Fabr., found in Eastern 
Bengal (Plate XXYII, fig. 17). 
Cionince.—Cionus hortulanus, Fourc., Var. major is a “cold weather 5 ' 
species in the plains, breeding only on Celsia coromandeliana ; the shiny 
grubs feed openly on the buds and look like caterpillars ; they pupate 
in a delicate horny cocoon, made of anal secretion, on the plant. There 
are, as a rule, about three broods yearly in Pusa, from February to 
April, the weevils then seeking shelter. They are usually very abun¬ 
dant, one of the most noticeable of the cold weather forms. In the 
Himalayas at 7,000 feet this weevil breeds on Celsia from May to 
October. C. albosparsus , Fst., has been found in Bombay and others 
occur in the sub-tropical zone. 
Alcidince. —A sub-family confined to the Old World and mainly 
occurring in the tropics. It consists of Alcides with 242 species recorded 
up to 1906 and Accents with one. The group has been listed by Bovie 
(Genera Insectorum 1907). Of the former 26 species are Indian. 
The species of which anything is known have been reared from larvae 
boring in the shoots of plants. Alcides leopardus , 01. (Fig. 261), is the 
species most commonly found, known throughout the plains ; its larva 
bores in the shoots of cotton, destroying them, and pupating in the 
tunnel near the bark. The pupal period is short (4 days) and the weevil 
rests within the tunnel for some days after. 
A. collaris , Pasc., is a larger species, the prothorax red-brown, the 
elytra black with white spots, which is found in sweet-potato fields in 
the plains. A. fabricii , F., has reddish-brown elytra with cream stripes, 
and a black and cream coloured prothorax ; it has been found in widely 
scattered localities. A. bubo , F., is the weevil whose larva breeds in 
Agathi (Sesbania) in South India and is a serious pest. Its eggs are 
greenish white, flattened and of nearly round outline, laid in holes in 
the stems of the young plants and covered with gelatinous material- 
