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tremity. The body is usually more or less arched 
lengthwise, and in many instances approaches to 
pear-shaped, with the thicker or hinder end 
somewhat acuminated; but in other instances is 
nearly cylindrical, and narrowed at each end 
The external crust is generally very hard, and 
well fitted to resist the injuries to which the in- 
sects would otherwise be exposed from the nature 
of their haunts, which are frequently among 
stones and loose earth. Such species, however, as 
live exclusively on plants, have often a softer in- 
tegument, and are not unfrequently adorned with 
very beautiful colours, occasioned by a coating of 
minute scales. Few weevils are much observed 
on the wing; for, like the majority of the beetle- 
race, they fly but imperfectly; and many which 
confine themselves to the surface of the ground 
have their wing-cases soldered together at the 
suture, and are incapable of raising them. An- 
other very distinctive mark of the whole family, 
is furnished by the antenne, which are inserted 
on the rostrum, and commonly consist of eleven 
| joints, the radical one of which is nearly as long 
as all the rest taken together, and is received in- 
to an oblique groove on the side of the rostrum ; 
and the articulated portion, which is clavate at 
the apex, usually forms a right angle with this 
stalk or elongated radical joint, so that when the 
antenne are extended, they present the appear- 
ance of a trident, of which the rostrum forms 
the central prong. Weevils composed the genus 
Curculio of Linneeus; but as they are very nu- 
merous, and exhibit almost endless modifications 
in form and structure, they have been distribut- 
ed by modern naturalists into a multitude of 
genera. Not fewer than five hundred species 
have been described as inhabiting Britain. Both 
in the larva and perfect states, they feed exclu- 
sively on vegetable substances, principally on her- 
baceous plants, although no small numbers like- 
wise attach themselves to trees and shrubs; and 
as a whole, they are very formidable enemies to 
both the farmer and the gardener. The larve of 
certain kinds are subterranean, and consequent- 
ly consume roots; others destroy the flowers of 
fruit trees; and some feed upon seeds, while the 
perfect insects mutilate the leaves. Some of the 
best known and most mischievous species are no- 
ticed in the articles Cananpra, ANTHONOMUS, 
Puyiiosius, Bauaninus, OrtroruyNncHus, Apion, 
and Hyzosius; but many species which are 
known or suspected to inflict great injury have 
as yet been very imperfectly observed. 
Two species recently written into notice by 
Mr. Curtis have been ascertained to work pro- 
digious havoc upon leguminous crops.—The worst 
of the two is called popularly the striped pea 
weevil, and scientifically Svtona lineata, or Curcu- 
lio lineatus. It is elliptical in form and convex 
above, punctured and clothed with minute scales ; 
and has more or less an ochreous or light clay 
colour, but, after losing its scales by age or ac- 
cident, displays a black shining surface. The 
head is elongated and deeply punctured; the 
face is concave, and has a channel down the 
centre; the snout is short, stout, and notched; 
the eyes are lateral, prominent, orbicular, and 
black; the antennze arise out of deep angular 
grooves toward the tip of the snout, and have a 
tawny colour and a fusiformly clubbed extremity; 
the thorax is deeply punctured, broader than the 
basal part of the head, and convex on the sides; 
the wing cases are broader than the thorax, el- 
liptical, rounded at the apex, and finely punctur- 
ed in the manner of strize, with tints of alter- 
nately lighter and darker clay colour; the wings 
are very ample, and folded beneath the elytra; 
the six legs are ferruginous, short, and stoutish, 
and the tarsi or feet are four-jointed. The other 
species is called popularly the spotted pea-weevil, 
and scientifically Sttona crinita or Curculio ma- 
cularis; and differs from the preceding princi- 
pally in being of smaller size and of different 
colour. The head and body are predominantly 
black and shining, with a clothing or armature 
of greyish or rosy-tinted scales or short hairs; 
the thorax is marked with four dark stripes; 
and the elytra are rather rough, and have short 
bristles behind.—The spotted species chiefly de- 
vastates pease, but the striped devastates also 
beans, lucern, and clover; and both either de- 
stroy the plants as soon as they rise above the 
surface, or nibble the leaves and notch the edges 
as soon as they have expanded. Their habits 
of propagation, the economy of their larval and 
pupal states, and the surest methods of destroy- 
ing them, are but very obscurely known; yet the 
following notices by Mr. Curtis of devastations 
done by the striped species, and of the likeliest 
methods of keeping down both species, may be 
acceptable and useful. 
“ Most farmers are very imperfectly acquainted 
with the economy of these insects ; and it was a 
long time before gardeners could be convinced 
that it was a weevil which caused them so much 
anxiety. Some very naturally accused the spar- 
rows; traps were set for rats and mice; lime 
strewed for slugs and snails; and toads were en- 
couraged to extirpate the woodlice; but still the | 
crops kept disappearing, as none of these precau- 
tions affected the wary enemy in his coat of mail. 
There were, however, both gardeners and far- 
mers, whose close attention to the operations of 
nature, united with steady perseverance, which 
generally leads to the truth, who eventually suc- 
ceeded in detecting the real cause of the mischief. 
In favourable seasons the weevils make their ap- 
pearance at the end of March; but April is the 
month when they are most destructive to the 
pea-crops, —and one then finds that healthy 
shoots are daily, if not hourly, disappearing in a 
most marvellous manner, without any apparent 
cause, so that spaces of a foot in length, and 
sometimes the entire rows, are lost, or the few 
that may be left are so weak that the produce 
can be reckoned of little value. The year 1844, 
