i68 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS 



always exposed (Fig. 298). This is a comparatively small family; ninety- 

 three species are listed in our fauna, of which eighty-one belong to the 

 genus Mylabris. 



The pea-weevil, Mylabris pisorum. — "Buggy peas " are 

 well known in most sections of our country; but just how 

 1 the " bugs " find their way into the peas is not so generally 

 understood. The eggs of the pea-weevil are laid upon the 

 pod while the peas are quite small; when the larvae hatch 

 they bore through the pod into the young peas. Here they 

 feed upon the substance of the seed, which ripens, however, and in some 

 cases will germinate when planted. The larva before transforming eats a 

 circular hole on one side of the seed, leaving only a thin scale, which is 

 easily pushed away by the mature beetle. The adult is about \ of an 

 inch in length; it is dark brown, with a few white spots on the wing- 

 covers, and one on the prothorax near the middle. Sometimes the beetles 

 leave the peas during the autumn or winter; but as a rule they remain 

 in the seed till spring, and are often planted with it. Seed peas should 

 be placed in water, and the infested ones, which will float, should be 

 picked out and destroyed. This species is not known to oviposit on dry 

 peas. 



The bean-weevil, Mylabris obtectus. — This species resembles the 

 preceding quite closely; but it is a little smaller (Fig. 298), and lacks 

 the white markings characteristic of M. pisorum. It infests beans, and 

 often several individuals inhabit a single bean. The eggs are laid within 

 the pod, being pushed through a slit which the female gnaws through 

 the pod. This species will oviposit on dry beans, peas, and other grain, 

 and will continue to breed for many generations in stored beans and 

 peas. 



The Snout-Beetles 

 The Group Rhynchophora * 



The five families included in this series constitute a well-marked 

 division of the order, which has long been known as 

 the Rhynchophora or snout-beetles. These names were 

 suggested by the fact that in many of these insects the 

 head is prolonged so as to form a snout or beak; but 

 it should be remembered that, while these names are 

 very appropriate for a large part of this series, in some 

 members of it the head is not thus prolonged. This is 

 especially true of the last two families, the bark-beetles 

 and timber-beetles, in which the beak is either want- 

 ing or extremely short and broad. 



The most distinctive features characterizing this se- 

 ries of families are the following: the suppression of the 

 gula, the gular sutures being confluent (Fig. 299, gs); 

 the absence of sutures between the presternum and the 

 episterna and epimera; the meeting of the epimera of 

 the prothorax on the middle line behind the prosternum 

 (Fig. 299, em); and the palpi being usually short and rigid. 



Fig. 299. 



* Rhynchophora: rhynchos (New Latin), snout; phoros (<t>bpos), bearing. 



