254 Bugs, Butterflies, and Beetles 



of an inch in length with a rusty black color mixed 

 with more or less white on the wing covers. A 

 side view of the insect is shown many times 

 enlarged by Fig. 229. This weevil was first ob- 

 served near Philadelphia, from which place it 

 spread to most of the States where peas are grown. 

 When the peas are in bloom the beetle appears, 

 and while the pods are growing rapidly the females 

 deposit their eggs upon any part of the surface, 

 making no attempt to insert them within the young 

 peas. The eggs are of a yellow color and fastened 

 to the pod by means of a mucilage that the weevil 

 supplies, which when it dries has the lustre of silk. 

 " Pods will often be found to have from ten to 

 twenty such eggs deposited upon them and later 

 the young larvse may be seen through the thin 

 transparent shells." The larva soon makes its way 

 through the pod into the nearest pea, the place of 

 its entrance being a small spot, like a pin hole. 

 The larva feeds upon the pea but avoids the germ 

 and, with a wonderful knowledge of its future 

 needs, eats a circular hole on one side of the pea, 

 leaving only the hull as the covering, or ready- 

 made cocoon. After tliis it passes into the mummy 

 or pupa state and at last becomes a beetle. When 



