The Pests of Garden Plants 



BEAN WEEVIL 



Curculio (f)tiorhynchus) picipes 



(with larva and chrysalis) 



Apples, Pears, Vines, wall- fruit, &c., and Raspberries are 341 



especial favourite. Its scientific name is Curculio {Otiorhynchus} 



picipes, and our illustration shows the larva, chrysalis, and perfect 



insect. These Weevils hide 



in the ground during the day, 



and commit their depredations 



entirely at night ; hence one 



of the common names of 



the pest is the Night-feeding 



Weevil. The insects eat holes 



through the stems and leaves 



of Beans, and the larvae during 



the autumn, winter, and spring 



months devour the roots of 



garden and field crops. The 



beetle is clay-brown in colour, so that when it is resting on the 



ground during the daytime it is impossible for the sharpest eye to 



distinguish it from the surrounding earth. No means are known 



for effectually protecting gardens against these pests ; the best plan 



may possibly be to make the ground disagreeable to them by 



dressings of soot or lime. 



The Pea Seed- Weevil or Bug (JBntchus pisi\ This pest 

 attacks Peas at the time of flowering or while setting the pods ; the 

 beetles pair at this time, and deposit their eggs in the newly formed 

 Peas. The Peas when gathered appear to be undamaged, although 

 they really contain the larva of the Pea Seed- Weevil. This larva 

 eats part of the seed, and 

 changes to the chrysalis form 

 in the spring ; the chrysalis 

 then changes to a beetle, 

 and creeps out of the Pea as 

 shown in our illustration. It 

 then flies away, and lays its 

 eggs on other Pea blossoms. 



Our illustration shows the Pea Seed- Weevil natural size and magnified. 

 It occasionally happens that the beetles do not emerge from the 

 Peas until after the sowing-time in spring, so that the pest is actually 

 planted with the seed. The early sowing of Peas has been recom- 

 mended as a preventive against the Weevil, as by early sowing the 

 insects are subjected to adverse conditions of weather. Another 



407 



PEA SEED-WEEVIL 

 Bruchtis pisi 



