Weevils
The popular name for a large division of Beetles, of very great interest to the gardener and the farmer, because of the injury inflicted by many species on garden and field produce. There has been frequent occasion, in the course of this work, to refer to their ravages under various headings, the more important of which are mentioned below. The scientific name of the Weevils is Rhynchophora (from the Greek words rhynchos, a snout, and phero, I carry). This name bears reference to the most characteristic mark of the Weevils, viz., that the head is prolonged and narrowed forwards into a snout, on which the antennae are placed. The snout, or beak, in many is short and flattened; but in a few (e.g., Nut-Weevil) it is very long, slender, and curved abruptly downwards. The mouth is at the end of the beak. The antennae are very generally elbowed-i.e., the basal joint is long and slender, and the others are short, and form a row, attached to the tip of the basal joint at an angle with it. Few Weevils of temperate climates are large; most are very small. The body is very often short, rounded, and very hard, less often slender and elongate, or depressed and flattened. Like other Beetles, they undergo a complete metamorphosis, their larvae being usually white, fleshy, legless grubs, with the head horny, dark, and furnished with strong jaws. Many of them live in the interior of fruits, or of seeds, but others burrow in leaves, or in the wood or pith of twigs, or in galls. The Beetles themselves are frequently destructive, gnawing the leaves, bark, or fruits of garden herbs and shrubs. The habits of the larvae and of the Beetles are thus so varied, and the injuries done by them so manifold, that it would exceed our limits to enter into the full details here; but information on these points in regard to the more important species will be found under the following headings: Apple-blossom Weevil, Bean Beetle, Cabbage Gall Weevil, Nut Weevil, Orchestes, Otiorhynchus, Pea (INSECT PESTS), Pinebark Beetle, Pine Weevils, Plum (INSECT PESTS), Rhynchites, Scolytidae, Sitona, and Turnip-Seed Weevil.