CURCULIO, weevil, in natural history, a genus of insects of the order Coleopte : antennae clavate, seated on the snout, which is horny and prominent ; four feel ers, filiform. Of this genus there have been from 800 to 1000 species enumerat ed, and there are probably many more that have not been observed by authors who have treated on the subject. These have been separated into three sections, wiz. A. jaw cylindrical, one-toothed. B. lip bifid ; jaw bifid, short; snout short. C. lip rounded, horny ; feelers very short. Of these the section A. is distinguished into a, snout longer than the thorax ; thighs unarmed : b, snout longer than the thorax ; thighs toothed : c, snout longer than the thorax ; hind thighs formed tor leaping : a, snout shorter than the tho rax ; thighs unarmed : e, snout shorter than the thorax ; thighs toothed. The larva; of this most splendid tribe of in sects have six scaly legs, and a scaly head ; some of them infest granaries, eating their way into grains of corn, and leaving nothing but the husk ; some dwell in other seeds, or are lodged in the in. side of artichokes, thistles, and various plants ; and others devour the leaves of trees and herbs. C. salmarum, or palm weevil, is two inches in length ; its larva is large and white, and of an oval shape ; it resides in the tenderest part of the smaller palm-trees, and is considered in the West Indies as one of the greatest dainties. C. nucum, or nut weevil, is the insect produced by the maggot residing in the hazel-nut. The insect makes its ap pearance early in August, and may he found creeping on hazel trees. The fe male singles out a nut, which she pierces with her proboscis, and then, turning round, deposits an egg in the cavity, and she thus proceeds till she has deposited in different nuts her whole stock of eggs.
This is done while the nut is in its young state, which, however, is not injured by the process, but continues to grow and gradually ripens. When the egg is hatched, the young larva begins to feast on the kernel. By the time that it has arrived at its full growth, and has nearly consumed the whole of the kernel, the nut falls, and the inclosed larva, not in jured by the fall, continues in the nut some time longer, and then creeps out at the hole in the side, which it has previ ously made by knawing in a circular di rection, and immediately begins to bur row or creep under the surface of the ground, where it lies dormant about eight months, and then, casting its skin, com mences a chrysalis, of the same general shape and appearance with the rest of the beetle tribe ; and it is not till the begin ning of August that it arrives at its com plete form, at which period it off the skin of the crysalis, creeps to the surface, and commences an inhabitant of the upper world. During this state it breeds, and enjoys for a short time the pleasures of a more ehlarged existence. To this genus belongs the weevil, pro perly so called. Many of the exotic spe cies are large and of great beauty, but the most brilliant and most beautiful is C. im perialis, or diamond beetle, a native of Brazil, which, when seen through a mag nifying glass, affords one of the finest sights that can be imagined.