194 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



larva were to no purpose, until one morning a letter arrived con- 

 taining a reference to a clover root-feeding larva. This set me 

 pondering once more, and in the evening I wandered aimlessly 

 into the pea-field, my brain busy with Sitones. I went to work, 

 and the result was that before I left I had discovered a small 

 white grub feeding at the root of the peas, which on examination 

 proved to be curculionideous. Elate with my success, I sought and 

 procured more of the grubs, despatched specimens to the care of 

 others interested in the subject, and placed a few in security for 

 my own observation. This was on the 31st of May, and on the 

 4th of July I had the gratification of seeing the first perfect 

 Sitones lineatus in the box where I had placed the pupae. Thus, 

 by digging up the plants bodily and carefully removing the earth 

 from the roots, was the problem solved, whereas in all previous 

 attempts I had drawn the plants after loosening the soil, and con- 

 sequently had left behind that of which I was in search. Evi- 

 dently John Curtis was very near the mark when he examined the 

 bean roots for galls, as mentioned in ' Farm Insects,' p. 345 ; but 

 probably it was too early in the year. Had he repeated his 

 search at intervals throughout the season there is now little 

 doubt that he would have laid the matter bare some forty years 

 ago. 



Contrary to the usual order of things, the pea-weevil does 

 comparatively little mischief in the larval state. True there were 

 indications of the grubs having eaten channels along the main 

 root, but the peculiar gall-like growths on the fibres appear to 

 be their favourite food. It is just possible that they may have to 

 do with certain portions of a crop dying away prematurely in dry 

 seasons by destroying the fibres or causing excrescences to grow 

 on them, and thus diverting the flow of sap from its proper course ; 

 but with sufficient moisture, fair tilth, and cultivation there is 

 reason to believe that the plant will arrive at maturity notwith- 

 standing the grubs. The fact that several of the larvae had 

 ensconced themselves within the above-mentioned galls made 

 me suspect their formation was due to the insect, but I could find 

 nothing in those without a visible entrance to confirm my sus- 

 picion. 



In its perfect state, however, the weevil more than compensates 

 for the apparent harmlessness of the larva ; its depredations are 

 little noticed till the following spring, but no sooner do the peas 



