THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 45 



gnaws numerous small holes in the leaves, and the Corn-worm alias 

 Boll- worm (Ileliothis armigera), which eats into the pod, there are 

 very few others besides the Pea-weevil under consideration. This 

 species alone is so numerous, however, as to be a serious drawback 

 to pea culture in this part of the country. 



The term Bruclius, meaning a devourer, 

 was given by the celebrated Linnasus to a 

 genus of beetles which at first appear to 

 have very little resemblance to the Gnout- 

 ■T©) Jr iPjlIIfM \ beetles. They form, however, at present, a 

 ^t^ pSIlSwR ^sub-family (Bruchides) of the great Snout- 



2 l\ xllfi/ I beetle family, though they posses nearly as 



close affinities to the great Chrysomela fam- 

 ily, and really form a~~connecting-link between the two. They are 

 characterized by a depressed head and very short snout, by the an- 

 tennas being 11 jointed, straight and but slightly thickened towards 

 the end, by the wing-covers being shorter than the abdomen, and by 

 the rather long hind legs and much swollen thighs. Their larvae are 

 short, arched, and swollen in the middle, with a comparatively small 

 head; and their depredations are confined all over the world, to le- 

 guminous or pod-bearing plants— another beautiful illustration of the 

 "Unity of Habits" referred to on page 9. 



They are far more abundant in the tropics than in more tempe- 

 rate climes, and in North America we have not many species to con- 

 tend with. With the exception of the Honey-locust seed-weevil 

 (Spermophagus robinim, Fabr.), which 1 have bred from the seeds of 

 that tree, there are only two species, namely: the Pea and the Bean 

 weevils that are really injurious in our State, though Bruchus dis- 

 coideus, Say, often badly infests the seeds of Ipomea. A third species 

 however, namely, the Grain Bruchus of Europe, has lately been intro, 

 duced into this country, and may some day become unduly multi- 

 plied in our midst. 



The Pea-weevil is very generally dubbed "Pea-bug," but this 

 latter term is not nearly so appropriate as the former, to which it 

 should give way. Though everybody may notknow by sight the per- 

 fect beetle, yet every one has most assuredly seen the work of the 

 worm, and though knowledge of the fact may not add to our enjoy- 

 ment of a mess of green peas, yet the fact nevertheless remains, that 

 those of us in the Mississippi Valley who indulge in this delicious 

 esculent, necessarily devour a young worm with nearly every pea 

 that we eat. Gray's oft quoted lines, 



— "Where ignorance is bliss, 

 'Tis folly to be wise," 



Would seem to apply here with great force ; but when we reflect that 

 the diminutive and almost imperceptible worm, nourished so to 

 speak in the very marrow of the pea, really has no flavor and pro- 

 duces no injurious effects on the human system ; we can chuckle in 



