EANS, peas, and cowpeas are often damaged seriously 
B in storage and in the field by weevils. Velvet beans, 
soy beans, and vetches are rarely infested in this coun- 
try. Bean and pea weevils not only destroy much of the 
Nation’s food in the form of leguminous crops but are re- 
sponsible for a curtailment in the acreage planted to these 
crops. They never attack corn and wheat. 
A large percentage of the initial infestations occurs in the 
field, where the parent weevil lays her eggs on or in the 
pods. The grubs, upon hatching, burrow into the seeds by 
gnawing a hole no larger than a pin prick. This entrance 
hole is usually not observed, hence the often expressed erro- 
neous belief that the adult weevils that eat out from the seed, 
leaving behind a round hole about one-sixteenth of an inch 
in diameter, have “‘ developed from the germ.” 
The most injurious bean and pea weevils in the United 
States can breed generation after generation in dried seeds 
in storage. During the hottest summer weather one genera- 
tion requires from 18 to 30 days for development. Female 
weevils may lay as many as 50 to 58 eggs a day, though the 
average total number of eggs laid by an individual during 
her life is about 100. Infested seeds in bulk usually heat, 
thus producing temperature and moisture conditions most 
favorable for the rapid development and vigorous breeding 
of weevils. 
Infestations in beans and peas can be quickly and effec- 
tively stamped out by fumigation with carbon disulphid, 
carbon tetrachlorid, or hydrocyanic-acid gas, and by means 
of heat or cold storage. Weevils can be prevented from 
breeding in storage by mixing dust or air-slaked lime with 
the seeds. Concerted action by a community of growers has 
been known greatly to reduce weevil infestations and is 
recommended unreservedly for consideration in commercial 
bean-growing areas. 
In brief: Plant weevil-free seeds, harvest as soon as pos- 
sible, treat to kill weevils, and store where seeds can be pro- 
tected from reinfestation by weevils spreading from infested 
seeds. 
Preventive and remedial measures are described fully in 
this bulletin. 
Washington, D. C. August, 1922 
