PEA AND BEAN INJECTS 61 



the side attached to the pod and soon find their way into the 

 young beans. The point of entrance is indicated in the dried 

 beans by a small black dot. The larva very closely resembles 

 that of the pea weevil. It eats out a cell in the bean, its posi- 

 tion being indicated by a transparent spot where the larva has 

 eaten out the contents under the outer hull. In California the 

 larvae begin to pupate about the first of August and transform 

 to adults the same season. Hibernation usually takes place in 

 the beans but if they are kept in a warm room, many of the 

 weevils will emerge in storage. From one to five larvse may be 

 found in a single bean. There is only one generation annually 

 and the weevils do not breed in dried beans. Infested beans 

 are lighter in weight and their value as food for stock is con- 

 siderably lessened. Furthermore, the percentage of germina- 

 tion even of beans containing only one larva is considerably 

 less than that of uninfested seed, and of beans that have been 

 injured by four or five larvae, only about one third will germinate. 



References 



Costa, Insetti, etc (Ed. 2), pp. 269-273. 1877. 

 Lintner, 7th Kept. N. Y. State Ent., pp. 279-285. 1891. 

 U. S. Bur. Ent. Bull. 96, pp. 59-82. 1912. 



The Four-Spotted Bean Weevil 



Bruchus quadrimaculatus Fabricius 



This weevil breeds by preference in the seeds of the cowpea 

 but in storage will also attack peas and beans. The species is 

 distributed throughout southern Europe, Africa, the East 

 Indies, South America, the West Indies, Central America, 

 Mexico and the southern states. The four-spotted bean weevil 

 (Fig. 45) is about | inch in length ; the head and thorax are 

 black ; on the middle of the hind margin of the prothorax are 

 two small spots of whitish pubescence. The markings of the 

 wing-covers vary greatly but in typical specimens are brownish, 



