13 



THE PEA WEEVIL. 



Bruchus pisi Linu. 



Fig. 5. 



This insect, Fig. 5, natural size, enlarged at a, and an infested pea at 

 6, is a native of this country, but is now common to nearly all parts of 

 the world. It is easily distinguished from the other species of its 

 family, by having a depressed head, a very short snout, and the 

 antennae eleven jointed, straight and slightly thickened at the end. 

 On the tip of the abdomen, which is somewhat longer than the wing 

 covers, are two oval black spots which cause the remaining white 

 portion to look something like a letter T. 



It is about one-fifth of an inch long, of a rusty black color with 

 more or less white on the wing covers, and a distinct white spot on 

 the hinder part of the thorax. 



The beetles begin to appear as soon as the peas are in blossom, 

 and when the young pods form, the females lay their eggs on the 

 outside of them, and as soon as the eggs hatch, the larvae, or grubs, 

 — which are of a deep yellow color and have a black head, — make 

 their way through the pods and into the nearest peas. Only one 

 grub can be fully developed in each pea, and this one will not destroy 

 the germ for peas will grow if they are infested, but the plant will 

 be feeble, and the weevils will increase rapidly. 



After the grubs are fully grown, they eat a circular hole out to 

 the shell of the pea, and then complete their transformations. Some 

 of the beetles emerge from the peas in the fall of the same year that 

 they were hatched, if the summer has been long and hot ; but as a 

 general rule they remain in the peas during the winter, and do not 

 issue till the new vines are growing. 



The weevils can be killed by taking the peas that are to be kept 

 for seed, and enclosing them in tight vessels with camphor ; also by 

 keeping the peas two years, taking care that the beetles do not 



