158 



genus Bruchus, of which there are several species, very much 

 resembling each other in appearance, in habit, and in the 

 plants they attack. They are small insects, usually greyish 

 in colour, with darker markings. The larvae are short, 

 thick, almost legless grubs, which live and complete their 

 development within the seeds of beans and peas (Figs. 

 166 and 167). 



Fig. 166. Cow pea 

 weevil. 



Enlarged. 

 (From U. S. Dept. 



Agric.) 



Fig. 167. Four-spotted bean weevil. 



(a) beetle ; (b) larva ; (c) pupa. All enlarged. 

 (From U. 8. Dept. Agric.) 



The female parent deposits eggs on, or in, the seed 

 vessel (pod) of the food plant, and the young larvae penetrate 

 into the developing seed. 



These insects often cause much injury to stored peas, 

 beans and the like, which are intended for planting, by 

 destroying the germinating power. The adults emerge 

 later through a round hole in each seed that has been 

 attacked. 



Control. For the control of the pea and bean weevil, 

 certain rules should be observed. It should be one rule to plant 

 only uninfested seed, and another to destroy as far as possible 

 the breeding places of the weevils during the time between 

 crops of their food plants. When it is known or suspected 

 that these insects have been abundant during the ripening 

 of the crop in the field, the seed should be fumigated with 

 carbon bisulphide soon after being harvested. 



The last pests in this division, to be considered, are the 

 ripe fruit flies, which are often seen on and about ripe fruit 

 as numbers of very small insects. If these are examined, 

 they will seem to be very handsome : the body a pale yellow, 



