222 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



become quite well distributed to most parts of the world. The gar- 

 den pea, which fortunately has not many insect enemies, probably 

 suffers from this insect more than from any other. Its ravages on 

 peas gathered for seed or other purposes, however, may fortunately 

 be prevented. 



The adult is a small beetle, about one-fifth of an inch long, 

 rusty black in color, marked with more or less white on the elytra, 

 or wing-covers, and with a whitish spot on the caudal margin of the 

 prothorax. The larva is a short fleshy grub of a yellowish color, 

 with the head black. The eggs are very small, of a deep yellow color, 

 pointed on one end, and quite blunt on the other. 



The eggs are deposited by the adult female, indiscriminately 

 on the young pods, soon after they have begun to form. The larvaB 

 hatching eat to the interior and enter the soft peas within, only one 

 grub occupying one pea. The embryo of the pea is rarely destroyed 

 by the grub, 'but the plant resulting from its germination will be 

 feeble, and dwarfed. When the larvaB attain their growth and are 

 ready for transformation, they eat a round hole outward to the shell 

 of the pea, to allow for their exit as adults, and then pass into the 

 pupa state. Adults may emerge in the fall or in the spring. 



The result of using weevily peas for seed should be noted. Wee- 

 vily peas before stated are not able to produce strong, healthy vines 

 from the fact that the stored up nourishment for the plantlet in its 

 early growth has been destroyed, and it is hence unable to get a 

 strong vigorous start in the soil. It is quite important therefore, 

 that peas selected for seed should be free from weevils. 



The Slender-Horned Flour Beetle. The slender-horned flour 

 beetle is quite generally distributed over the Southern States where 

 it is destructive, feeding upon grain, both in field and when gath- 

 ered. It is also destructive to cereal products. This insect is doubt- 

 less indigenous to tropical America. Its northern limit is probably 

 in the region of the Ohio River. 



The beetle is a small insect, a little more than one-eighth of an 

 inch in length, bearing much resemblance to the confused Flour 

 Beetle, except that it is somewhat smaller, and lighter in color. On 

 the head are two pointed protuberences. The larva is also much 

 like the larva of the confused Flour Beetle. The habits are essen- 

 tially the same. The habits and life history of this insect is for all 

 practical purposes the same as those of the confused flour beetle. 



The Confused Flour Beetle. This beetle is minute, elongated, 

 reddish colored. Eggs are laid in flour or other material infested, 

 which hatch into small inconspicuous Iarva3. In the due course of 

 time the adults appear and eggs for another brood are laid. These 

 insects increase with considerable rapidity, and soon bring about a 

 loss to the infested substances. They impart to the infested material 

 a persistent and disagreeable odor. 



The Rust-Red Flour Beetle. This insect is well known in Eur- 

 ope as a grain and flour pest. Dr. Hagen records it as also quite in- 

 jurious to the collection of insects in the Museum at Cambridge. In 

 the United States it seems not to have attracted much attention by 



