353 



some introduced species of Acacia. B. pndninus has been induced 

 in captivity to oviposit upon 44 species of seeds, which are given 

 in a table ; of these probably only Desmanthus virgatus and Albizzia 

 saponaria will be found infested naturally. The adults in nature 

 visit the flowers of the host-plants and feed on the pollen ; they 

 probably live for a month or more. None of the plants upon which 

 B. pruininus breeds in Hawaii is of any particular economic value 

 at present ; whether it will continue to breed in stored seeds 

 indefinitely remains to be seen. 



The Dolichos weevil has been bred from the beans of a white variety 

 of Dolichos lahlab which is used to some extent as food. The eggs 

 are laid in masses on the pods while these are still quite green ; all 

 the larvae from an egg-mass enter a single bean and develop there, 

 practically destroying it during their development. The greatest 

 number of adults emerging from any one bean was 14 ; they make 

 their exit from the pod by cutting circular openings similar to those 

 made in emerging from the bean. Though D. lahlab is the usual 

 host, eggs have also been found on pods of the lima bean {Phaseolus 

 lunatus). In captivity it has been bred from pigeon pea [Cajamis 

 i ndicus], cowTpea,[V igna sinensis'], soy bean [Glycine hispida], chick pea 

 [Cicer arietinum], adsuki bean [Phaseolus angularis], broad bean, 

 mung bean [Phaseolus aureus] and common pea. It could not be 

 induced to breed in common beans. This beetle is short-lived in 

 confinement, and the author doubts whether it will succeed in main- 

 taining itself in storage ; 40 to bo days seems to be the period required 

 for its development from egg to adult during the cooler part of the 

 year in Honolulu. 



Bruchus obtectus has been frequently bred from stored beans ; 

 eight or ten generations may be produced in a year, breeding being 

 continuous in stored beans infested while in the field. Lima and 

 tepary beans [Phaseolus acutifolius var. latifolius] are readily infested 

 experimentally and the former have been found appreciably injured 

 in the field. Individuals developing from Lima beans are foimd to 

 be smaller than those from common or tepary beans ; this is true 

 also of B. quadrimaculatus and the Dolichos weevil bred from this 

 host. 



Bruchus chinensis has been recorded previously breeding in various 

 peas and beans ; in Hawaii it frequently attacks pigeon peas in the 

 field, eggs being laid either on the unbroken pod or, if the pod has 

 burst open, upon the peas. Adults developing from these eggs mate 

 and oviposit before cutting their way out of the pod. The author 

 has secured oviposition upon 40 species of leguminous seeds, adults 

 having been bred from Phaseolus artiadatus, P. aureus, Vigna sinensis, 

 Cajanus indicus. Glycine hispida, Cicer arietinum, Vicia faba and 

 Pisum sativum. Attempts to secure breeding in common beans, 

 lima and teparv'' beans, all failed. B. chinensis requires only 29 days 

 to complete its life-cycle during the winter season. In storage, seeds 

 are found much more heavily infested with B. quadrimaculatus than 

 with B. chinensis, though why this should be is not known, since when 

 adsuki beans were placed with large numbers of adults of both species, 

 many examples of B. chinensis emerged from the infested beans. 



Bruchus quadrimaculatus has been recorded only as a pest of stored 

 beans and peas, and has in no case been found ovipositing upon the 

 (C485) O 



