The Life of the Weevil 



Weevil-larva would ever find an adequate 

 meal there, unless by biding its time until the 

 seed ripened. 



But is the grub, once hatched, capable of 

 long fasting? It is doubtful. The little 

 that I have seen tells me that the new-born 

 larva begins eating with all speed and, if it 

 cannot do so, dies. I therefore regard as 

 lost the eggs laid upon immature pods. The 

 prosperity of the race will hardly suffer, 

 thanks to the Weevil's fertility. Moreover, 

 we shall see presently with what reckless 

 prodigality she scatters her germs, most of 

 which are doomed to perish. 



The bulk of the mother's work is finished 

 by the end of May, when the pods begin to 

 bulge with protuberances revealing the 

 pressure of the peas, which have now at- 

 tained their final size, or very nearly. I was 

 anxious to see the Bruchus at work, in her 

 quahty of a CurcuHo, which is how she is 

 classified.^ The other Weevils are Rhyn- 

 chophorae, beak-wearers, armed with a rod 

 that prepares the hollow in which the egg 



1 The modern classification places the Pea- and 

 Haricot-Weevils in a separate family, the Bruchidae, 

 whereas the family of the Curculionidae includes most of 

 the other, or true, Weevils. — Translator's Note. 

 236 



