CHAPTER III 



PEA AND BEAN INSECTS 



The more important insect enemies of the pea are of Euro- 

 pean origin, while those of the bean are native. The seed 

 weevils are, on the whole, the most troublesome pests of these 

 crops, especially in the South. Peas are subject to widespread 

 and destructive outbreaks of the pea aphis, especially where 

 they are grown in large areas for the cannery. The seed-corn 

 maggot occasionally causes serious damage to seed beans in 

 seasons when the weather is cold and wet at planting time, and 

 under similar weather conditions snails occasionally i)rove 

 very destructive to the foliage. 



The Pea Weevil 



Bruchus pisorum Linnseus 



The pea weevil is a native of the Old World but was intro- 

 duced into America more than one hundred and seventy years 

 ago. Peter Kalm records having found it in Pennsylvania, 

 New Jersey and southern New York in 1748 and states that 

 because of its ravages the settlers had in large measure been 

 forced to discontinue the growing of peas. The insect is now 

 widely distributed in most parts of the world where peas are 

 grown. The economic importance of this pest is indicated by 

 the statement of James Fletcher in 1903 that in Ontario alone 

 the annual loss amounts to more than a million dollars. In 

 this province many of the farmers had given up the growing 



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