The Pea-Weevil : The Larva 



men, with a long boring-tool. The male, a 

 little smaller, is clad in black. Both sexes 

 have dull-red legs and thread-like antennae. 



In order to leave the pe^, the exterminator 

 of the Bruchus opens herself a window in the 

 centre of the disk which the Weevil's grub 

 has bored in the skin with a view to its future 

 deliverance. The devoured has prepared 

 the way out for the devourer. This detail 

 enables us to guess the rest. 



When the preliminaries of the metamor- 

 phosis are finished, when the exit-hole is 

 bored, furnished with its lid, a surface cuticle, 

 the Chalcis comes bustling along. She 

 inspects the peas, still on the plant, in their 

 pods; she tries them with her antennse ; she 

 discovers, hidden under the general outer 

 wrapper of the pod, the weak points in the 

 ceiling formed by the skin. Then, raising 

 her sounding-rod, she thrusts it through the 

 pod and pierces the thin lid. However 

 deeply secreted in the centre of the pea, the 

 Weevil, whether larva or nymph, is reached 

 by the long implement. It receives an egg 

 in its tender flesh; and the trick is done. 

 Without any chance of defence, for it is by 

 now either a torpid grub or else a nymph, 

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