258 PHYTOPHAGA. [ Bruchide. 
analogy with the Bruchide ;’ the genus Urodon has always been 
associated with the Bruchide, and in great measure owing to this the 
family has been connected with the Anthribide ; M. Bedel has, however, 
shown that by the structure of the under side of the head and thorax 
the genus is really Anthribide, whereas the Bruchide have rather the 
structure of the Phytophaga. It must, however, be allowed that, as a 
matter of fact, the family is not very closely allied to any other group, 
but appears to come closer to the Sugrina than to any other members 
of the Coleoptera ; it is therefore best placed at the beginning of the 
Phytophagous series in immediate proximity to the last-mentioned 
tribe. 
The following are the chief characters of the Bruchide :—Head free, 
produced in front, but with no distinct rostrum, mentum supported by 
a pedunele, neck usually constricted, antenne 11-jointed, not clavate, 
but often serrate or pectinate, and more or less thickened towards apex ; 
eyes emarginate ; maxille exposed at base, bilobed, with 4-jointed palpi ; 
thorax margined at the sides, the margins being sometimes obsolete, 
variable in shape; anterior coxe conical and oblique, contiguous at 
apex, posterior coxe large, laminate, contiguous or slightly distant, 
reaching the margin of elytra; mesosternum short, separating the middle 
coxe, which are oval; elytra entire or truncate, pygidium always ex- 
posed ; abdomen with five free ventral segments, of which the first is 
the longest; posterior femora more or less thickened; tarsi with the 
first joint elongate, the third bilobed, and the fourth very small and 
closely united with fifth ; claws toothed at base. 
The larvee of the Bruchide are soft white fleshy grubs with a scaly head and 
strong short jaws, with the legs obsolete or very short; that of B. ruficornis is 
figured by Westwood (Classification, vol. i. p. 324, fig. 40, 7); they are exceedingly 
destructive to leruminous seeds, especially beans and peas, and in tropical climates 
do great damage to the grains of the Gleditzia, Mimosa, Acacia, Theobroma, and 
other plants ; some species also appear to attack cocoa-nuts and palm-nuts; in our 
country the attack of species of Bruchus is sometimes very serious to the pea and 
bean crop; the beetles appear to lay their eggs in the peas and beans while yet in 
the pod and soft; the larvae when hatched devour the inner surface of the seed, but 
have the curious instinct to leave the germ untouched; the seed therefore will 
sprout and grow, but, as has lately been proved by Mr. ‘Theodore Wood in a series of 
experiments, the plants are either sickly and bear scarcely any pods, or the pods are 
almost barren; the larve change to the pupal state inside the seeds, and usuaily 
remain in this condition through the winter, appearing in spring as perfect beetles ; 
remedies against the pest are hard to suggest, and the best that can be suggested is 
to buy the seed from well-known growers, and carefully avoid “cheap seed,” which 
in all cases, but especially in that of peas and beans, will inevitably be found the 
dearest in the long run. Miss Ormerod (Manual of Injurious Insects, p. 11) suggests 
the adoption of one remedy practised in the Colonies for the destruction of weevils 
in rice by exhausting the air; a quantity of rice is put in a tank with a lighted 
candle or lamp set on the surface, and the tank is then hermetically sealed ; on the 
tank being opened some hours afterwards, a large number of beetles will be found to 
have been killed. 
In the Munich catalogue published in 1873 five genera and four 
