INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CEREALS 



237 



tooth weevil." 

 strong ridges on 



other of the stored grain insects. This insect is commonly 

 known among the farmers as the " grain- weevil " or the 

 "saw-tooth weevil." 



The beetle, itself, is a minute, flattened, reddish-brown 

 beetle about one-tenth of an inch long. The thorax is the 

 distinguishing feature of this insect. 

 It is long and narrow and bears on 

 each lateral margin a number, usually 

 6, of conspicuous tooth-like projec- 

 tions. It is this characteristic that 

 gives the beetle the name of "saw- 

 There are three 

 top of the thorax 

 with two wide 

 sunken areas, one 

 each side of the cen- 

 tral ridge. The wing 

 covers are longi- 

 tudinally ridged 

 with the areas be- 

 tween finely punc- 

 tate. The head is 

 also densely covered with punctures. 

 The larva (Fig. 71) is somewhat 

 flattened and has a transverse rec- 

 tangular chitinized area on the dorsal 

 side of each body segment. On the 

 thoracic and anterior abdominal seg- 

 ments these rectangular areas may be divided in two 

 by a whitish line through the middle. The larva, when 

 living in granular material, like meal, usually builds a 

 thin case out of the particles and the whitish pupa may 



Fig. 70. — The saw- 

 toothed grain-beetle. 

 (X 20.) 



Fig. 71. — Larva of 

 saw-toothed grain- 

 beetle, enlarged. 



