INSECTS IXTl'RIOUS TO IlEAXS AND PEAS 



lO^ 



Fig. 61.— Cowpea weevil. 

 (Author's illustration. 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



until Ihoy entirely spoil it. or seriously impair its .germinating 

 power. Both species are generally distributed and injurious 

 in the South, and arc widening their range with the increasing 

 use of their food plant as a soil renovator and as forage. They 

 resemble each other after a manner superficially, in appearance 

 as in habit, but they dilTer to some ex- 

 tent in various details of their life econ- 

 omy as well as in structure. 



The cowpea weevil may be readily dis- 

 tinguished from the kindred four-spotted 

 species by the two large, elevated ivory- 

 like lobes at the base of the thorax and 

 by the strongly pectinate antennae of the 

 male (fig. 6i). This is undoubtedly an 

 Old World species and an ancient enemy 

 of edible pulse. 



Cowpea is the favorite food seed, but 

 the insect is also injurious to common and pigeon peas, lentils, 

 chick-pea and "mungo." Table beans also serve as food. Mate- 

 rial infested by this weevil undergoes a marked elevation in 

 temperature. In one instance the temperature of a small sack 

 of seed infested by the cowpea weevil was found to be 25° F. 

 higher than the surrounding atmosphere. 



Remedies. — The similarity of the habits of this and the com- 

 mon bean weevil renders it amenable to the same remedies. 



The Four-spotted Bean Weevil (Bntchiis qiiadriinaculatus 

 Fab.) is the more slender species and differs from the cowpea 

 weevil by many characters. What appears to be the commonest 

 form of coloration is illustrated in figure 62. a, which is suffi- 

 cient to separate it from the-preceding which it much resembles, 

 especially in its manner of life. 



The Remedies are practically the same as for the common 

 bean weevil. 



