INSECTS INJURIOUS TO BEANS AND PEAS 



103 



resting position. Until recently this species, like the preceding, 

 was generally believed to be indigenous. It is certainly not 

 native to the United States, and if introduced from the Eastern 

 Hemisphere probably became acclimated in tropical America 

 before establishing itself in the North. Its distribution is now 



Fig. 59.— Bean 

 showing injury 

 by common bean 

 weevil. (From 

 Riley.) 



Fig. 60.— Bean weevil, a, In profile; b, section of 

 bean-pod showing slit for egg deposit; c, portion of 

 interior of pod showing egg mass inserted through 

 slit, a, c, Much enlarged. (Reengraved from 

 Riley, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



world-wide. It occurs in nearly every State and Territory of 

 the Union, and is generally diffused through Central and South 

 America. 



Oviposition takes place primarily in the field, the eggs being 

 deposited, as with the pea weevil, upon or inserted in the 

 pod through a hole made by the female and through openings, 

 such as are caused by its drying and splitting. In shelled beans 

 the eggs are dropped loosely in the receptacle in which they 

 are stored, or are placed in holes made by the weevils in their 

 exit from the seed. Less seldom they are attached to the outer 

 surface of the seed. 



There are probably produced annually an average of six 

 generations in latitudes such as the District of Columbia and 

 a less number in more northern localities. Unlike the pea 

 weevil, a large number of individuals will develop in a bean, 

 as many as twenty-eight having been found in a single seed. 



