‘WEEVIL. 
if I may judge from the number of communi- 
cations transmitted to me, appeared to be well 
suited to these weevils, which were actively at 
work in thousands in the vicinity of Hertford at 
the end of March, continuing their operations 
for a fortnight, and entirely eating off the second 
and third sowing, when the plants had grown 
from two to four inches high. At this period 
of the year, they issued from the ground from 
9 to 10 o’clock in the morning, to feed all day 
upon the pease; and they retired under the clods 
of earth on the approach of evening. They were 
equally troublesome at Stafford the first week in 
April, when they ate off the early pease; and in 
the Isle of Wight these weevils were not less 
destructive, for there they attacked the beans as 
well. On the 30th of the same month, I received 
from Mr. Pusey an interesting account of this 
beetle, communicated by Mr. Robert Baker, stat- 
ing that some garden marrowfat pease were drilled 
early in February, which were retarded in growth 
from the cold north-east winds and wet, and 
destroyed by the ravages of this insect, which 
notched all the leaves, and in many instances 
entirely defoliated the stem. It most abounded 
on light turnip- -soil. Mr. Baker correctly ob- 
serves that ‘it is exactly the colour of the soil, 
and very difficult to detect, as upon the yond 
of any one, it falls down suddenly from the pea, 
and lies motionless for some time afterwards, as 
if dead ; but if any one looks attentively forward 
a few are, they may be observed in scores sit- 
ting upon the edges of the pea-leaves and gnaw- 
ing away earnestly, with appetites as voracious 
as the turnip-fly, and almost as destructive in 
the result. From the same source we learn 
that ‘they do not attack the common hog-pea so 
vigorously as the garden varieties; but the mar- 
rowfat and early pease suffer most.’ This was 
corroborated by the fact that the maple-grey 
pease nearly escaped, whilst the remainder of 8 
acres in the same field were obliged to be ploughed 
up. It is somewhat remarkable that this beetle 
commences with the pease in March; then it af- 
fects the broad beans to such an extent, that I 
have not been able to find a single leaf in a field 
of many acres which is not greatly notched ; and 
in August, and until the close of the autumn, its 
ravages are transferred to the crops of clover nal 
lucern. On the 18th of that month, 1843, I re- 
ceived a communication from Mr. C. Parsons, of 
North Shoebury Hall, Essex, which is too valua- 
ble to be passed over. He says, ‘I enclose you 
a beetle, very destructive in these parts to the 
young plants of clover, lucern, &c.; so much so, 
as often totally to destroy whole fields, and espe- 
cially those of lucern, Medicago sativa, which they 
attack in such a way, that for several years past 
no one has been able to obtain a full plant, al- 
though going to the expense of sowing the land 
two or three times over, The damage is attri- 
buted by our farmers here to the turnip-fly, and 
the habits of these little weevils render it in the 
605 
spring of the year exceedingly difficult to detect 
them, as the moment one approaches near, down 
they fall upon their backs amongst the clodg, and 
remain motionless with their legs folded up. I 
have searched a long time in vain for them in 
fields where they were committing their ravages, 
in order to convince my neighbours what they 
were indebted to for the loss of their crops, At 
this time of the year they are readily enough 
obtained, as the pease, beans, and other papilio- 
naceous plants often swarm with them. I have 
a field of pease that does so at this time, the re- 
maining leaves of which they have completely 
riddled; and when a person walks in amongst 
them, you may hear a pattering like rain upon 
the leaves, occasioned by their dropping down. 
I last year sowed a small piece of lucern in July, 
that was untouched by them; now, whether at 
that time they are absent, or whether there is 
any interval between a first and second brood of 
them, would be very desirable to know, as we 
afin then perhaps steal a march upon them.’ 
Two years previous to this, viz., the 15th of Sep- 
tember, 1841, Mr. William venabeval transmitted 
me the following instructive observations from 
Marsh Farm, near Sherborne, Dorsetshire, which 
carry forward the economy of the weevils several 
weeks later :—‘ Walking along the headland of a 
field of broad-clover, from whence the barley had 
been carried about a fortnight, I was surprised 
to see that throughout, for the width of four or 
five yards from the hedge, the plant was very 
much injured, and in many parts quite destroyed, 
from having been bitten apparently by some in- 
sect. Nearly every leaf was eaten round the 
edges, and so deeply were they indented, that 
those parts of the leaf not eaten are withered 
from the sap not being able to ascend. Curious 
to know by what animal such ravages could have 
been made (for I suppose the headland is more 
than half an acre), I examined the clover to dis- 
cover the depredator, but for a long time unsuc- 
cessfully, until at length having stood quite still 
and watched the leaves intently for a consider- 
able time, I ascertained that it was done by a 
number of small brown beetles, which immedi- 
ately, on moving near, hid themselves by getting 
under the leaves, and on a nearer approach they 
let go their hold altogether, and fell to the 
ground as if dead, but immediately recovered 
and crept among the roots of the clover, where 
they remained until all was again quiet. Being 
so exceedingly shy, it was a long time before I 
could see any of them actually eating, but by 
perseverance I eventually succeeded in observ- 
ing several. They attack the edge of the leaf, 
holding it steady between their legs, whilst they 
eat down from top to bottom like a silkworm, 
To give some idea of their numbers, when I 
moved the clover with my hand or foot, they fell 
off by dozens.’ It still remains to be ascertained 
where the eggs are deposited. This operation 
must take place, one would imagine, in the sum- 
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