64 



England, although it is not nearly so abundant and destructive in Europe as it is 



with us. 



This beetle, Fig. 31, «, is a little more than one-tenth of an inch long, of a rusty, 



blackish colour with a whitish spot on the hinder part of the 

 the thorax, and several of the same colour on each wing case 

 behind the middle ; also a white spot shaped somewhat like 

 the letter T on the tip of the body. In the cut, the in- 

 sect is much magnified ; the small outline figure at the side 

 shews the natural size. 



As soon as peas ai'e in bloom the pea weevils are on the 

 wing, and when the young pods are formed the females de- 

 posit their eggs on the surface, fastening them with a glutin- 

 ous fluid, secreted from their bodies. These eggs are veiy 

 small, much longer than wide, pointed in front and blunt 

 behind, and of a yellow colour. The young larva, which is 

 hatched in a few days, is of a deep yellow colour Avith a 

 black head. It eats its way at once through the tender pod, 

 and directly into the first pea it meets with, the wounded 

 portion closing up in the growing pod, and leaving but a mere speck in the pea to mark the 

 place of entrance. The larva feeds on the growing pea and consumes its substance, usually 

 avoidin" any injury to the germ, so that infested peas will generally germinate as readily as 

 those which are free from the bug. The soft, whitish fleshy grub, Fig. 31, 6, when full 

 oTown, eats a circular hole on one side of the pea, not quite through to the surface, but 

 feaves the thin skin unbroken. It then changes to a chrysalis, and finally to a beetle 

 within the pea, and when the beetle is ready to escape it has only to eat its way through 

 the thin skin which the larva had left covering the hole. 



Few persons are aware how many insects they unconsciously devour while indulging 

 in the luxury of early green peas. In this instance, as in many others, " Where ignorance 

 is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." Some console themselves with the idea that the fat little 

 creatures having fed on nothing but green peas, are only green peas in a modified form, 

 and besides this they are cooked. A very small discoloured spot on the pea indicates the 

 presence of an occupant, and if the pea be opened at this point the whitish footless grub 

 will be found within. 



Sometimes, especially during an unusually warm season, many of the weevils will 

 escape from the peas in the fall, but usually they remain in them during the greater 

 part of the winter, and many do not issue until after the peas are sown as seed in the 

 o-round. Hence we see how easily this pest may be introduced into a district hitherto 

 free from it, by sowing infested peas. All seed peas should be carefully examined, and as 

 the insects diminish the weight of the peas in which they lodge nearly one half, an expe- 

 ditious and moderately safe way of separating the sound from the unsound peas is to thiow 

 them into water when most of the good peas will sink while the infested ones will float 



A very eS"ectual remedy, and one which would be very successful were it generally 

 adopted, is to keep seed peas in tight vessels in a dry place over one year before planting 

 them durin» which time, if any of them contain bugs, these will escape and perish with- 

 out having opportunity to propagate. 



It lias also been recommended to scald the peas about to be sown by dipping them 

 for a moment or two in hot water "before planting, by which means the weevils are killed 

 and the sprouting of the peas quickened. 



As the duration of this insect in the beetle state is limited, peas sown late are much 

 more likely to escape injury than those planted early. Harris, in his " Insects Injurious 

 to Veo-etation," mentions an instance of a gentleman who sowed his peas on the 10th of 

 June for six years in succession, and never found an insect in them during that period. 



A very efiectual method of getting fid of this pest from any section of country 

 would be for the farmers to mutually agree to sow no peas for one year. At a 

 recent meeting of the County Council in London, Mr. Henry Anderson, of Westminster, 

 presented a memorial to that body, setting forth the importance of this subject, and ask- 

 ino- the Council to petition the Legislature to pass an Act giving County Councils the 



