469 



and remain attached to the plant for lona; periods after they 

 have split open and -exposed the little blackish seeds but little 

 larger than a fidl-sizcnl adnlt B. prulnlnus. I have also fonnd 

 it attacking the seeds of Sesbania sesban in the open, in this 

 plant the pods are long and slender and hang for a long time 

 upon the tree, in time splitting open on one side so as to permit 

 'oviposition upon the seeds, though the opening is so nari'ow as 

 to cause one to wonder how the beetle is able to reach them. 

 The adults from these seeds are also somewhat under-sized. 

 From less than a pint of these seeds I secured more than a 

 thousand seeds upon which eggs had been laid, and a large 

 'part of these later produced beetles. It has been recorded 

 from California as breeding in the seeds of the desert iron 

 wood (Olneya tesota), from black locust (Robinia pseudaca- 

 cia) and from some of the introduced species of Acacia. 



In confinement I have induced Bnichus pruininus to ovi- 

 posit upon 44 species of seeds, as may be seen in the table 

 presented further on in this paper. Of these Glycine hispida, 

 Aracliis hypogaca, Prosopis juliflora. Cassia fistula, C. nodosa,- 

 Desmodium uncinatum, Albizzia saponaria, Desmanthus vlr- 

 gaius, Acacia koa, and Caesalpinia pulcherrima can serve as 

 larval food and from them adults have been bred. It is hardly 

 to be expected that any of these excepting perhaps Desmanthus 

 and Albizzia saponaria will be found infested naturally. 



Bruchns pruininus is easily reared in captivity, the adults 

 mating immediately after emergence, the females ovipositing 

 in about three days. The adults in nature visit the flowers of 

 the host plants and feed upon the pollen. On the heads of 

 Leucaena they soon work their way down among the stamens 

 and remain for some time. In captivity they readily feed 

 upon nectar, sugar and water, or honey, and if fed will live 

 for a number of days, I should judge that they may live for 

 a month or more. Feeding need not precede oviposition though 

 apparently it does normally. 



In mating the hind tibiae of the male are bent beneath the 

 abdomen of the female, wdiile the front and middle legs keep 



