The huUan Wheat and Bice Weevil. 19 



'The corn-worm must not be confused with the very similar rice weevil (.S/^ojo^/Zm? 

 oryzce), which is dull and pitch black in colour, has one spot on each shoulder of the 

 elytra, and another a little behind the middle, which, as also the lateral edges of the elytra, 

 are reddish in colour.' 



' The thorax is very closely punctured, the pits being deep and round, scarcely leaving a 

 medial line clear.' 



' The wing covers very thickly striato-punctate, the narrow spaces between each row of 

 puncture being coveredwith short yellow bristles.' 



' The larva of the corn-worm is like all conculionid larva;, footless, curved, swollen, 

 white in colour, with horny head, brown towards the mouth parts : it inhabits a single 

 grain and devours it little by little till only the husk is left ; in the case where this grain 

 is not larger than an ordinary grain of rye, it lies wedged inside, cramped by its own excre- 

 ment which, however, has no unpleasant smell.' 



' The larva becomes full fed and transforms into a colourless, slim pupa in the same 

 grain in which the q^^ was laid. The two front pairs of legs lie with their tibiae and 

 femora outside the wing covers, the last pair of legs appearing from underneath towards 

 the extremity of the wing coveis.' 



' About five or six weeks after the Qg^ is deposited, the beetle eats its way out of the 

 grain, generally about the beginning of July. After about a fortnight this generation 

 begins copulating ; then the female bores a hole with its rostrum in the grain, in 

 which it lays a single dirty white-coloured e^^^. From this ^g^ is developed, in the end 

 of September, the second generation, which, according to the temperature, either feeds a 

 little longer, or else hides itself for its winter sleep in cracks, under beams in the thresh- 

 ing floor, and such like places, wherever it can find shelter from the frost. The follow- 

 ing spring, the insects wake up, and collect on warm sunny places, beginning to copulate 

 and commence a new round of life as in the preceding year. It seems not improbable 

 that in warm seasons, and especially in southern countries three generations may be gone 

 through in the year, and that in cases where they are undisturbed, each generation will 

 be very much stronger in numbers than the one which preceded it.' 



' It is supposed that one female will lay as many as 150 eggs ; and it appears that she 

 lays these eggs, not all at one time, but extending over several weeks, about which, 

 however, I have no exact information. This much, however, is certain, that whenever the 

 corn-worm appears, it and its larvae are very destructive, and become more and more so 

 by multiplication if no measures are taken to master them.' 



' I should add that the insects love warmth, collecting specially on the south side of the 

 granary, and that it therefore seeks close, unventilated places, and attacks most readily 

 grain that was not thoroughly dry when brought iuto the granary. The insect also prefers 

 old wooden buildings, as in them it finds most suitable shelter for hybernating. It is very 

 gregarious, and lives in large swarms, is very active on its legs, but is unable to fly. 

 Heaps of badly weeviled grain have so high a temperature that it is perceptible to the touch.' 



• From the above particulars many remedies immediately follow. The granary must be 

 airy, clean, and all cracks in it filled up. In the case of having to deal with larvae or 

 pupae, the only thing is to heat the grain in ovens, if one cannot grind and use it without 

 delay ; for as both of these are completely shut up in the grain, they can only be destroyed 

 by heat. The most important thing is to capture the beetles in masses at the right 

 moment. This moment being before the females have laid their eggs, that is to say, in the 

 spring, when they come out of their winter quarters and collect on suitable places ; a 

 second time in the beginning of July, when the fust generation appears in even greater 

 numbers than its predecessor ; and finally in the beginning of September when the last 

 and hybernating generation of beetles appears, when, of course, the measures are only 

 useful for the following year. When the beetles are found in the heaps of grain they 

 must be driven out by sifting. Dry rags should be spread in the places to which tlie 

 beetles naturally tend, that is to say, towards the south side of the floors, as it is found 

 that they readily take refuge in them, and should then be carefully destroyed, by hammer- 

 ing the rags, or by burning them or immersing them in boiling water.* 



