62 COLEOPTERA. 



* 



pea-Bruclius, or pea-weevil, but is better known in America 

 by tbe incorrect name of i^ea-bug. The orip;inal 



Fig. 31. - . in- 



meanmg ot the Avord BrucJius is a devourer, and 

 the insects to which it is applied well deserve this 

 name, for, in the larva state, they devour the in- 

 terior of seeds, often leaving but little more than 

 the hull untouched. They belong to a family of 

 the great weevil tribe called Bruchidje, and are distin- 

 guished from other weevils by the following characters. The 

 body is oval, and slightly convex ; the head is bent doAvn- 

 wards, so that the broad muzzle, when the insects are not 

 eating, rests upon the breast ; the antenna^ are short, straight, 

 and saw-toothed within, and are inserted close to a deep 

 notch in each of the eyes ; the feelers, though very small, 

 are visible ; the wing-cases do not cover the end of the ab- 

 domen ; and the hindmost thighs are very thick, and often 

 notched or toothed on the vmder-side, as is the case in the 

 pea-weevil. The habits of the Bruchians and their larvse 

 are similar to those of the pea-weevil, which remain to be 

 described. It may be well, however, to state here, that these 

 beetles fi'equent the legimiinous or pod-bearing plants, such 

 as the pea, Gleditschia, Robinia, Mimosa, Cassia, &c., during 

 and immediately after the flowering season ; they wound the 

 skin of the tender pods of these plants, and lay their eggs 

 singly in the wounds. Each of the little maggot-like grubs 

 hatched therefrom perforates the pod and enters a seed, the 

 pulp of Avhich suffices for its food till fully gi'own. 



Few persons while indulging in the luxury of early green 

 peas are aware how many insects they unconsciously swal- 

 low. When the pods are carefully examined, small discol- 

 ored spots may be seen within them, each one corresponding 

 to a similar spot on the opposite pea. If this spot in the 

 pea be opened, a minute whitish grub, destitute of feet, will 

 be found therein. It is the weevil in its larva form, which 

 lives upon the marrow of the pea, and arrives at its full 

 size by the time that the pea becomes dry. This larva or 



