WEEVILS IN BEANS AND PEAS. 
By E. A. Back, 
Entomologist in Charge, Stored-Product Insect Investigations, Bureau of 
Entomology. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page. 
Serious losses caused by bean and Germination affected by weevil at- 
WEA WOR et eee 3 TGVOS = See a Seen ee Se ee 22 
Losses often discovered too late____ 5 | Heating due to infestation_________ 23 
How beans and peas become infested_ 5. | Wenionionmeses oe ore. 24 
Where weevils in storage come from_ 8 Do not plant infested seeds____ 24 
Destruction continues in storage_-~ 8 Practice clean culture_________ 24 
There are different kinds of weevils- 9 Harvest, thrash or shell, and 
General descriptive facts-_____--__ 10 sack as soon as possible__—__ 24 
PRheBOedt Weevil tk are 12 MSE Oo OU) ee ee 26 
The common bean weevil_____-----~ 3 LOD ee gee Te ae eA 3 
ThemcoOwped. WeeVilsee == 15 Cold and cold storage_________ 31 
The four-spotted bean weevil____-- lye Lime or dust as protection to 
PRN SHEN TLe WC VAL (ae oes Se 18 see t  e  ee  ee 32 
The Mexican bean weevil______-___ 19 Community effort toward control_ 32 
The broad-bean weevil__._________ 19 | Treatment does not prevent reinfes- 
Why weevils limit acreage planted Pe ONN a eee _ SE 33 
to certain leguminous food crops_ 21 
SERIOUS LOSSES CAUSED BY BEAN AND PEA WEEVILS. 
oie AND PEA WEEVILS are by no means new pests. They 
belong to a class of insects that cause farmers and merchants 
an annual loss of many millions of dollars. One Province of Canada 
alone suffered from the ravages of the pea weevil to the extent of 
over $1,000,000 in a single year. It was estimated in 1902 that the 
acreage in field peas in Ontario would have been 1,000,000 instead of 
the actual 532,639 planted, had it not been for fear of the pea weevil. 
Since the introduction from Europe of the broad-bean weevil into 
California about 1909, the pest is estimated to have reduced the 
acreage planted to Windsor beans 25 to 75 per cent, and in Alameda 
County, formerly a large producer, there is now practically no com- 
mercial acreage of these beans. The common bean weevil has been 
one of the chief factors in discouraging the production of field beans 
south of the latitude of New York, except in the higher altitudes, 
and is to-day one of the worst enemies of garden beans of all varie- 
ties grown in the East. Few realize that the ravages of this weevil 
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