bites through the ring so that the disc falls of!,and then emerges 

 from the seed. The ring, though it is made by the larva, 

 does not appear to be necessary for the emergence of the 

 beetle. Beetles emerged successfully from cow-pea seeds in 

 which the position of the pupae was reversed and which were 

 o-lued on to the glass at the disc end of the pupal chamber. 

 There is also reason to believe tliat the larvae, which later 

 on turn into the beetles that hii^ernate, do not cut a ring. 

 The larvas pupate just near the seed coat as usual and 

 the rings cut by the beetles in these chambers are as neat 

 as those cut by the larvae. The absence of the ring makes 

 the insect inside less subject to the changes of weather 

 and this is probably the reason why no rings are cut by 

 such larvae. When seeds with such pupal chambers are 

 sown, the beetles make their escape as soon as the seed coats 

 burst. 



The total period required to complete the life history 

 varies from nineteen days to as much as one month and 

 twenty-one days. The shortest period is during the warm 

 weather and the longest, during the cold weather. 



The life history described above is different in import- 

 ant details from that described by Fletcher. The figure of 

 the larva given by him is acknowledged to be after Chitten- 

 den. But he states that it has long slender thoracic legs "and 

 the prothoracic plate is armed with peculiarly sharp teeth^." 

 Chittenden, on the other hand, says in regard to the larva 

 that it is, of course, smaller than that of the pea weevil, the 

 minute temporary legs are apparently not jointed and the 

 prothoracic plate bears blunt rounded teeth instead of acute 

 spines. There appears, therefore, to have been a mistake 

 which is in all probabiUty one of identification. From the 

 description given later, Fletcher clearly looks upon the 

 species as a serious pest in the field ; for, he recommends that 

 "the insects may be caught with hand nets in the evening 

 when they are abundant."' It is clear, therefore, that he 

 regards the s]3ecies as free-living. On the other hand, 

 Chittenden^ says " that eggs are laid both on the outside of 

 the pod in the field and upon dried seeds and notes that 

 beetles continue to develop in the dried and stored seed for 

 several generations until the seed becomes completely ruined 

 for any practical purpose and unfit for the sustenance of 

 this insect." That is to say, the insect is Tnore important 

 as a pest of stored grain. We have obtained eggs laid on the 



1. Fletcher loc. cit. Page 307. 

 '^, Chittenden loc. cit. Pase 244. 



