234 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 4 



to about twice the starvation period at that season but there was no 

 evidence of breeding on this corn. All observations show that the 

 attack on corn does not begin until it has reached the "dough" stage. 

 At this time the husk is drying and shrinking, so that it is also easier 

 for the weevils to gain access to the kernels. In the South the "cotton 

 boll worm" or "roasting ear worm," Heliothis obsoleta Fabr., is so 

 abundant that very few ears indeed escape some injury from their 

 attack and it is very noticeable that weevil injury is greater on ears 

 which have been badly injured by those worms. They leave the 

 door wide open for the entrance of weevils later on. The length 

 and tightness of the corn shuck is a very important factor affecting 

 the severity of early weevil injury. 



Duration of Life Without Food. — Observations ranging from early 

 spring to late fall show that these weevils cannot live long without 

 food. In April the average was about nine days and in May only 

 five days for the starvation period, while in August the average was 

 seven days. 



Duration of Life With Food. — Our breeding work has all been done 

 with corn, although the weevil is reported as attacking other grains 

 also. It seems that the adults cannot feed upon isolated kernels of 

 fully matured hard corn as in all cases they died in the usual starvation 

 period with no signs of feeding when so confined. Where feeding can 

 take place normally, the length of life is exceedingly variable, extending 

 in many cases, where the winter season intervenes, to six or eight 

 months. Males live longer than do females as a rule. 



It is interesting to note that the only positive observations as to 

 these weevils feeding in the field before corn matures shows that they 

 attack immature fruit of peach and apple, sucking the juice and 

 gradually forming cavities within which they may be entirely con- 

 cealed and even present a real burrowing habit (PI. 7, fig. 7). On 

 such fruits weevils have been kept alive for more than six weeks in 

 spite of a decayed condition of the fruit. 



Mating and Reproduction. — Rice weevils are both polygamous 

 and polyandrous. Mating may occur with both sexes within twenty- 

 four hours of their emergence from the grain. Some feeding may 

 have occurred in the grain and also in making their exit holes. A 

 period of about three days then ensues before females are ready to 

 begin oviposition. Subsequent matings are common and in laboratory 

 breeding experiments it is evident that mating frequently results in 

 more frequent oviposition, especially after a large number of eggs 

 has been deposited. 



Oviposition. — This occurs normally on corn at a spot that may be 

 called an "outer angle" of the kernel. Kernels at the tip are usually 



