282 



Beetles 



"Weevily" peas should be put into a tight box or bin, together with a 

 small dish of bisulphide of carbon, the fumes of which will kill the insects. 

 Or they may be immersed for a minute or two in water heated to 140 F.; 

 this will kill all the beetles and larvae. 



The bean-weevil is a little larger than the pea-weevil and lacks the 

 white spot on the thorax. Its life-history is about the same as that of the 

 pea- weevil, the eggs being laid of course on the young bean-pods. Several 

 eggs are frequently laid in a single bean. The bean-weevil continues to 

 breed also in dry stored beans, and increases its damage materially if the 

 stored beans lie long untouched. It is therefore necessary to treat weeviled 

 beans with bisulphide of carbon or hot water before storing them away. 



FIG. 392. FIG. 393. 



FIG. 392. Prionus californicus. (Natural size.) 



FIG. 393. Larva of Ergates spiculatus. (Natural size.) 



The other principal tetramerous family besides the Chrysomelidae is the 

 Cerambycidae, or family of long-horn wood-boring beetles: "long horn" 

 because of their long slender antennas, and "wood-boring" because their 

 larvae live in burrows in the trunks of trees. The beetles themselves are 

 usually large and strikingly colored and patterned, and whenever seen 

 attract attention. Nearly 600 species are known in North America, and 

 they are common all over the country. As might be concluded from the 

 habits of the larvae, the family includes numerous serious pests, such species 

 as the round-headed apple-tree borer, the oak-pruners, various hickory- 

 borers, the twig-girdlers, the giant Prionids et al., all causing much damage 

 to orchards and forests. 



