240 
HALF HOURS WITH mSECTS. 
[Packard. 
Fig. 182. 
Another borer is the Brenthian weevil {Eupsalis minuta, 
Fig. 182). By means of its long snout, armed with short, 
stout jaws at the end, it bores a hole through the bark, in¬ 
serts an egg, and the grub hatching out bores into the solid 
wood, finally making a burrow about a tenth of an inch in 
diameter. 
Mr. Riley has described and figured, in his “Sixth Report 
on the Noxious Insects of Missouri,” the transformations of 
this interesting beetle. He draws attention to the combative 
nature of the males in the following words. “The males of 
the Brenthians are known to fight desperately for the female, 
and, as it has been remarked by Mr. A. R. Wallace,* it is 
interesting, ‘as bearing on the question of sexual selection, 
that in this case, as in the stag beetles, when 
the males fight together, they should not only be 
better armed, but also much larger than the 
females.* The eggs are deposited during the 
months of May and June, and perhaps later, 
the female boring a cylindrical hole with her 
slender snout, and therewith pushing her egg to 
the bottom of the hole, as is the habit of all snout 
beetles. Mr. Howard thus describes his own observations 
on these insects. ‘It requires about a day to make a punc¬ 
ture and deposit the egg. During the time the puncture is 
being made, the male stands guard, occasionally assisting 
the female in extracting her beak ; this he does by stationing 
himself at a right angle with her body, and by pressing his 
heavy prosternum against the tip of her abdomen ; her stout 
forelegs serving as a fulcrum, and long body as a lever. 
When the beak is extracted, the female uses her antennm 
for freeing the pinchers or jaws of bits of wood or dust, the 
antennce being furnished with stiif hairs, and forming an 
excellent brush. Should a strange male approach, a heavy 
contest at once ensues, and continues until one or the other 
♦The Malay Archipelago, p. 482. 
16 
Eupsalis. 
