Mar. 4. I9I& Weevils Affecting Potatoes 609 



lished by the United States. In fact it has been only because of tke 

 excellent system of quarantine inspection in California that the species 

 has not already come into the United States with Hawaiian potatoes. 

 Many shipments of infested sweet potatoes have already been inter- 

 cepted at the California ports.^ 



The following is a description of the species redrawn to include all 

 the material at hand. The variations of color will be mentioned in 

 subsequent paragraphs. 



Length about 4 mm. Brown, mottled with lighter areas, especially by a transverse, 

 irregular, postmedian band on the elytra. Squamose, bristling with upright setse. 

 Beak curved, carinate and laterally bifurcate. Front foveate. Front and beak 

 bristling with erect scales. Vertex provided with more decumbent scales. Prothorax 

 constricted in front, laterally impressed on disk behind, mottled with erect scales, 

 except on posterior margin which is provided with smaller, more decumbent scales. 

 Elytral strise composed of rather distant punctures, each bearing a small scale ; stu^ace 

 closely set with overlapping scales and each interspace with a single series of elongate 

 squamiform seta. Undersides more sparsely clad with semierect scales. Legs 

 provided with scales and seta. Rostral canal deep, terminating in a prominent 

 pocket of the mesostemum. Intercoxal process broad, angulate on anterior margin. 

 First segment behind coxae subequal to the second, which is but slightly longer than 

 the subequal third and fourth segments. The femora are minutely toothed. 



• 



Mr. Bradford's excellent illustrations will be very helpful in identifying 



this weevil. His illustration of the adult is from Hawaiian material. 



The species varies from very light brown to almost black and on the darkest speci- 

 mens the mottling and the postmedian vitta have practically disappeared. 



On light specimens the scales of the thorax are mostly dark brown, with flecks of 

 pale scales and with the basal scales orange colored. The scales of the eljixa are 

 mottled in many shades of brown. The postmedian fascia extends to the fifth inter- 

 space and is bordered by very dark scales and divided by a wa\^ dark line. The 

 erect setae are mixed dark and white. The ventral scales are pale, but on the legs 

 they are mottled dark brown and pale. This description fits best some of the 

 Jamaican, Barbados, and Brazilian specimens. Almost black material comes from 

 Brazil, Jamaica, and Guam. The Hawaiian specimens are a duller brown, and the 

 New Zealand material is the lightest of all. There is, however, no doubt of the specific 

 identity of the entire series. 



In order that the immature stages may be readily distinguished from 

 those of Cylas jormicarius a series of very careful drawings of the essen- 

 tial characters of the larva and pupa have been made by Mr. Harry 

 Bradford under the writer's direction. The drawings of the vertex and 

 face are by the writer. Barbados material was used for these drawings. 



Larva (PI. 34, E-H). The larva of this species measures about 5 mm. in length 

 and is white, with a yellowish head and reddish brown mandibles tipped with black. 

 The maxillae and labium are slightly tinged with brown. 



The head shield is broadly, angulately emarginate behind; from the center of the 

 emargination on the median line the epicranial suture passes forward, separating the 

 epicranium into two parts. This suture divides behind the frons and forms the two 



' Whitney, L. A. the small sweet potato weevil (crvptorhynchus batatae waterh.). In Mo 

 Bui. State Com. Hort. [Cal.], v. 4, no. 3, p. 162-164, fig. 24-28. 1915. 



