PEA-WEEVIL BEETLES. 



171 



injurious to any fruit-producing plants. They agree with the 

 leaf-beetles in general structure, but their small head is prolonged 

 into a broad beak and the wing-covers are rather short, not cov- 

 ering the tip of the abdomen. As an example of these beetles the 

 Bean-weevil {Bruchus rufimanus Sch.), and the Pea-weevil (B. 

 pisi Linn) , are illustrated in Fig. 177. This pest can be controlled, 

 even when still enclosed in the seed, by means of bisulphide of 



Fig. 177. — Bruchus rufimanus, Sch., and B. pisi, I. inn. After Brehm. 



carbon, the seeds being kept in a tight receptacle for this purpose. 

 Ir should be the rule of every farmer to plant only sound seeds, 

 and not to throw away any "buggy" peas, but to destroy the in- 

 sects in them by boiling, when both peas and weevils can be fed 

 to animals. 



2. HETEROMERA. (Different Joints). 



As already mentioned we find the chief peculiarity of the 

 beetles in this group in the feet, the front and middle pairs of 

 which are five-jointed, and the hind pair four-jointed ; the joints 

 of the tarsi are not cushioned beneath, as are those of the leaf- 

 beetles. Many peculiar insects belong to this division, not alone 

 peculiar on account of their shape, but also on account of their 

 peculiar development, which has one or two seemingly retrograde 

 stages in some species having parasitic habits. 



