286 



INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS OK CALIFORNIA. 



nightshade, pear, purslane, tomato, turnip, strawberry and water- 

 melon. 



Control. — Control measures are the same as for the potato tiea- 

 beetle, Epitrix cucumeris Harris. 



BRUCHID^ (Family) 20 ' 



PEA AND BEAN WEEVILS 



Because of the prolongated head somewhat resembling a short beak 

 or snout, these insects are called weevils though they belong to 

 an entirely different suborder. The head is held at right angles 

 to and beneath the body, the tarsi are four-jointed and the elytra 

 are short so that the tip of the abdomen is exposed. The pea and 

 bean weevils are the best known members of the family. 



THE BEAN WEEVIL 



Acanthoscelides dbtectus (Say) 

 ( Bruchu8 obtectus Say ) 



(Figs. 279, 280) 



Description. — The weevils are very short and robust, measuring 

 about J inch in length. The odd shape is due to the wing covers being 

 shorter than the abdomen and the head being carried beneath and at 



right angles to the body. 

 The color varies from gray 

 to brown with a velvety 

 greenish tinge. The eggs are 

 white and less than 1-25 inch 

 long. The grubs are very 

 small, a number of them 

 being able to occupy a single 

 small, white bean. They are 

 light cream colored and 

 robust. The pupae are first 

 light, gradually becoming 

 darker with age. 



Life History.— The 



beetles, after hibernating or 

 breeding in stored beans 

 over winter, appear in the 

 spring about the time the 

 beans are blooming and 

 lay their eggs upon the 

 pods, in cracks at the end or 

 in slits made by the female's 

 jaws. Upon hatching, the young larvae bore through the pod or reach 

 the beans within through a natural crack and begin to enter them by 

 drilling a small hole, the entrance of which either heals over or is so 

 small as to be unobserved. Once within the bean, the entire life history 



203 The generic name Laria and the family name Lariidce used in the first edition do 

 not appeal- to be properly established and are therefore dropped in this revision, and 

 the names Bruchus and Bruchidw restored. 



Fig. 279. — Beans showing the exit holes of the 

 bean weevil, Acanthoscelides obtectus (Say). Nat- 

 ural size. (Author's illustration. Mo. Bui. Cal. 

 Hort. Com.) 



