Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/476

WEENIX. (1621-60), and his first pictures of sub- jects in the Roman Campagna and seaports are in the manner of his father. Under the in- fluence of his uncle, Hondecoeter, he became an animal painter, making a specialty of dead game. He is especially celebrated for his painting of dead hares, but his pictures often contain birds and sumptuous vases, with landscape back- grounds. From 1702 to 1712 he was Court paint- er to the Elector at Dusseldorf. for whom he deco- rated tlie Castle of Bensberg with paintings of this character, most of which are now in the Munich Gallery. He was a very prolific painter, and nearly all the chief galleries of Europe pos- sess his "pictures, which are characterized by delicate brush work and fine color.

WEEPING PHILOSOPHER, The. An ap- pellation occasionally given to the Ephesian philosopher Heraelitus.

WEEPING TREE. Any one of several kinds of trees upon which leaf-hoppers (especial- ly Proconia undata) and their kin congregate, usually in the early summer, and copiously dis- charge honej-dew (q.v. ).

WEEVER (variant of xceaver), or Sting- fish. A fish of the genus Trachinus, of the spiny-rayed fishes of the family Trachinida?, in- teresting because of the sharp dorsal and opercu- lar spine by which these fishes can inflict an un- pleasant wound. Two species inhabit the sandy bottoms of the European coasts, both excellent for the table. There is no evidence that their sting is poisonous.

WEEVER, John (1576-1632). An English poet and antiquary. He was born in Lancashire and was educated as a .sizar at Queen's College. Cambridge. In 1599 he published Epijjmmmcs in the Oldest Cut and yetcest Fashion, a worth- less piece of work except that the references to Shakespeare, Daniel, Drayton. Ben Jonson, Mars- ton, Middleton. and others throw light on con- temporary opinion of those poets. In 1601 Weever published The Mirror of Martyrs, which relates to Sir John Oldcastle and enables us to date ,/ulitis Cwsar. His antiquarian researches, which are of great value despite their occasional inaccuracies, were embodied in a folio entitled Ancient Funerall Monuments vithin the United Monarchic of Great Uritaine, Ireland, and the Islands adjacent CiaSl). Consult: Fuller, Hi.s- tortj of the Worthies of En(jland (ed. Nuttall, London, 1S40), and Lee, "John Weever," in the IHclionwry of National Biography.

WEEVIL (AS. u-'ifel, OHG. wlhal, GcY.'Vi'ic'bel, weevil : connected with AS. vefan. OHG. vchan, Ger. vehrn, to weave. Gk. t'^oj, hyphos, wet, Skt. urnavfibhi, wool-spinner, spider). A name ap- plied to many of the snovit-beetles of the sub- order or series Pvliynchophora, and also to species of the family Bruehiila" of the series Phytophaga. The heads of the beetles of the former group, which it is said includes 25.000 species, are pro- longed into a lieak which in some species exceeds the length of the body. The jaws are placed at the tip of the snout, by means of which holes are drilled, and in some species the eggs p>ishcd into place. According to Sharp only four fami- lies of snout-beetles can be accepted with cer- tainty. Other authors subdivide the order into more than twice as many families. The com- moner North American species belong to Otio- rhynchidse, Curculionidie, Calandridce, and Scoly- tida", the first including over 100 North Amer- ican species, which are conunonly known as scarred snout-beetles, Ijecause the appendage borne on the mandible of the pupa, or even of the young adult, later falls off and leaves a sear. Aramigus I'ulleri, which is destructive to roses (see Rose Insects), belongs to this family. Epi- ceerus imbricatus (see Imdricated Snout- Beetle) is destructive to trees, shrubs, fruits, and vegetables. Certain weevils of the Rhyn- chitida' which in the larval stage roll the leaves of plants are the only true leaf-rollers (q.v.) among the beetles. The family Curculionidit in- cludes 20.000 species, among which are some of the most destructive of beetles. In this family the mandible is not scarred. The antennte are frequently elbowed. The maggot-like larvEE are especially injurious to fruits, seeds, and nuts. Two species (Balanintts quercus and Balaninus rectus) breed in acorns. Balaninus nasicns in hickory-nuts, and Balaninus caryatrypes in chest- nuts. Conotrachelus nenuphar is the cause of 'wormy' plums and cherries. See Plum Insects. To this group belong certain destructive species of the genus Anthonomus. The strawberry weevil {Anthonomus signatus) destroys the buds of strawberry. (See Steawbeery Insects.) The most destructive, perhaps, of the whole series, however, is the 'sharpshooter.' 'picudo.' an in- sect most widely known as the Mexican cotton- boll weevil {Anthonomus grandis). one of th.e largest species of its genus. This insect, whose normal habitat is Central America and the West Indies, and whose ravages stopped the cul- tivation of cotton in the Monclova district of the State of Coahuila, Mexico, in 1863, made its appearance in the vicinity of Matamoros about 1888, spread across the river to Brownsville, Texas, and at the close of 1902 ranged over practically all of the best cotton-growing region of Texas, where in 1901 and 1902 its ravages were estimated at about .$10,000,000. The adult insect is a small, long-snouted grayish weevil less than one-qiuirter of an inch long. Through- out the season it punctures and lays its eggs in the .squares and bolls. The larva is a fat. white maggot a little over three-eighths of an inch long when full-grown, and lives upon the in- ternal tissues of the buds and bolls. When the square is attacked it usually drops, but most of the damaged bolls remain upon the plant and become stunted or dwarfed except late in the season, when they either dry or rot. The larva pupates witliin tlie boll, which may contain sev- eral larva>. The adult weevils hibernate in grass, in late cornstalks, in old bolls on the cotton plants, and in piles of seed about the cotton gins, etc. They appear when the cotton begins to blossom, or earlier, and feed upon the young twigs and leaves. There are four or more gen- erations each Slimmer, the larva- being found as late as December. No food-jilant other than cotton is known. The infestation of a field is evidi'ut from the dropping of the blossoms. The Department of .Agrii'ullnrc recommends as the best remedies early idanting. thorough cultiva- tion, the planting of wide rows in order to ad- mit the sun, and the destruction of the plants by fall plowing and fire in the autumn. The rice-weevil (Calandni oryzm) is econom- ically n very important beetle, which infests stored rice. (See Rick Insects.) Calandra pal-