Entomological Notes. 307 



be used for seed or for food, for few care to plant infe3ted seed, 

 and the mature beetle is decidedly harmful in the meal or berry, 

 where it is to be served for the table. For this reason, great care 

 should be taken to secure seed free from the weevil, and in every 

 possible way to exterminate the pest. 



The Weevil makes its appearance the last of May or in June,, 

 according to the temperature of the season, and is ready as soon 

 as the young peas begin to swell in the pods to provide for the 

 continuation of the specie. The eggs are deposited on the out- 

 side of the pods and fastened there by a viscid substance which 

 quickly hardens. These eggs can be readily seen on the pods- 

 during the month of June. They are about a thirtieth of an inch 

 in length, long and slender in form, of a deep yellow colon 

 Sometimes a dozen and more will be found on a single pod. The 

 larva soon hatches out, drills through the pod and works its way 

 into the young berry. The hole in the pod soon grows up and there 

 is nothing to indicate the presence of the inhabitants within. The 

 color of the young larva is a deep yellow with a shiny black 

 head. There are often many more larvae on the pod than there 

 are peas within, but there is only one to a berry ; the rest perish. 

 The larva continues to feed on the albumenous part of the pea and 

 but rarelj r touches the life germ, so that the vitality of the berry 

 is not destroyed. On reaching maturity it eats a round hole to 



the outside of the pea, leaving only 

 the thin hull to inclose it, and then 

 passes into the pupa state. It 

 usually remains in this condition 

 until the following spring, then to 

 become the mature Weevil. When 

 the season has been very favorable 

 for their early development and the 

 Fig. 9. Pea Weevil. hot weather continues late, the larvae 



sometimes mature and transform late in the fall, but in the ma- 

 jority of cases they winter in the peas. 



The Weevil is of a rusty black color, with several gray spots 

 and bands on its back and wing covers. The abdomen projects 

 beyond the wing covers and is tipped with white, inclosing two 

 well defined black spots, oval in form, as seen in figure nine. The 



