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Forty- FOURTH Report on the State Museum 



nean Basin, Persia, etc. Carried by commerce, it is probably 

 cosmopolite." (See foot-note.) 



General Features of the Beetle. 

 The bean-weevil, when found infesting, or in association with 

 injured beans, may be recognized by the following features, many of 

 which are in common with other members of the same family: 



Fig. 16.— The bean-weevil, Bkuchus obsoletus: l, the beetle; la, the antenna greatly 

 enlarged; l/;, a hind leg enlarged to show the femoral teeth; 2, the larva; 2a, larval 

 head enlarged to show mouth-parts; 3, the pupa; i, & bean burrowed by the insect. 



It is a hard-shelled beetle, one-tenth of an inch long, of an oval 

 form, having its head bent downward and more or less concealed as 

 seen from above, and prolonged in a short, squarely cut snout or 

 beak. Its antennae are distinctly jointed and enlarged at the tip; the 

 first four joints and the terminal one are reddish or yellowish. The 

 thorax and abdomen at their junction are about of equal width. 

 The wing-covers (elytra) are marked by ten impressed and punctured 

 lines in flattened ribs, which are clothed with a short pubescence 

 arranged in yellowish, black, and whitish spots and lines — the white 

 lines more distinct on the third rib or interval. The grayish tip of 

 the abdomen extends nearly one-half the length of the wing-covers 

 beyond them, and is faintly marked with a central whitish line. The 

 legs are short, of a reddish color; the thighs (femora) of the hind 

 pair are quite thick. 



The above figures, for the use of which I am indebted to the 

 courtesy of Professor Popenoe, of the Kansas State Agricultural 

 College, should insure its recognition, and will also serve to illustrate 

 its early stages. 



Note.— The comparison of the two has since been made by Mr. Janson, and they 

 are unhesitatingly pronounced identical. 



In the light of our increasing knowledge of the distribution of this insect through 

 commerce in the four quarters of the globe, there can hardly remain any reason for 

 longer regarding it as native to the United States^of America. 



