PEA-BUG. 



the word Bruchus is a devourer, and the insects 

 to which it is applied well deserve this name, 

 for, in the larva state, they devour the interior 

 of seeds, often leaving but little more than the 

 hull untouched. They belong to a family of 

 the great weevil tribe called Bruchidae, and are 

 distinguished from other weevils by the follow- 

 ing characters. The body is oval, and slightly 

 convex ; the head is bent downwards, so that 

 the broad muzzle, when the insects are no* 

 eating, rests upon the breast. 



The habits of the Bruchians and their larvae 

 are similar to those of the pea-weevil, which 

 remain to be described. It may be well, how- 

 ever, to state here that these beetles frequent 

 the leguminous or pod-bearing plants, such as 

 the pea, Gleditsia, Robinia, Mimosa, Cassia, 

 &c., during and immediately after the flowering 

 season ; they pierce the tender pods of these 

 plants, and commonly lay only one egg in each 

 seed, the pulp of which suffices for the food of 

 the little maggot-like grub hatched therein. 



Few persons, while indulging in the luxury 

 of early green peas, are aware how many in- 

 sects they unconsciously swallow. When the 

 pods are carefully examined, small, discoloured 

 spots may be seen within them, each one cor- 

 responding to a similar spot on the opposite 

 pea. If this spot in the pea be opened, a 

 minute whitish grub, destitute of feet, will be 

 found therein. It is the weevil in its larva form, 

 which lives upon the marrow of the pea, and 

 arrives at its full size by the time that the pea 

 becomes dry. This larva or grub then bores a 

 round hole from the hollow in the centre of the 

 pea quite to the hull, but leaves the latter and 

 generally the germ of the future sprout un- 

 touched. Hence, these buggy peas, as they are 

 called by seedsmen and gardeners, will fre- 

 quently sprout and grow when planted. The 

 grub is changed to a pupa within its hole in the 

 pea in the autumn, and before the spring casts 

 its skin again, becomes a beetle, and gnaws a 

 hole through the thin hull in order to make its 

 escape into the air, which frequently does not 

 happen before the peas are planted for an early 

 crop. After the pea-vines have flowered, and 

 while the pods are young and tender, and the 

 peas within them are just beginning to swell, 

 the beetles gather upon them, pierce the pods, 

 and deposit their tiny eggs in the punctures. 

 This is done only during the night, or in cloudy 

 weather. Each egg is always placed opposite 

 to a pea ; the grubs, as soon as they are hatched, 

 penetrate the pod and bury themselves in the 

 peas ; and the holes through which they pass 

 are so fine as hardly to be perceived, and are 

 soon closed. Sometimes every pea in a pod 

 will be found to contain a weevil-grub ; and so 

 great has been the injury to the crop in some 

 parts of the country, that the inhabitants have 

 been obliged to give up the cultivation of this 

 vegetable. These insects, as Mr. Deane has 

 observed, diminish the weight of the peas in 

 which they lodge nearly one-half, and their 

 leavings are fit only for the food of swine. 

 This occasions a great loss, where peas are 

 raised for feeding stock or for family use, as 

 they are in many places. Those persons who 

 eat whole peas in the winter after they are 

 raised, run the risk of eating the weevils also; 

 878 



PEA, COW. 



but if the peas are kept till they are a year old, 

 the insects will entirely leave them. 



The pea-weevil is supposed to be a native 

 of the United States. It seems to have been 

 first noticed in Pennsylvania, many years ago; 

 and has gradually spread from thence to New 

 Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, 

 and Massachusetts. It is yet rare in New 

 Hampshire, and I believe has not appeared in 

 the eastern parts of Maine. It is unknown in 

 the north of Europe, as we learn from the 

 interesting account given of it by Kalm, the 

 Swedish traveller, who tells us of the fear with 

 which he was filled, on finding some of these 

 weevils in a parcel of peas which he had car- 

 ried home from America, having in view the 

 whole damage which his beloved country 

 would have suffered, if only two or three of 

 these noxious insects had escaped him. They 

 are now common in the south of Europe and 

 in England, whither they may have been car- 

 ried from this country. As the cultivated pea 

 was not originally a native of America, it 

 would be interesting to ascertain what plants 

 the pea-weevil formerly inhabited. That it 

 should have preferred the prolific exotic pea to 

 any of our indigenous and less productive 

 pulse, is not a matter of surprise, analogous 

 facts being of common occurrence ; but that 

 for so many years a rational method for check- 

 ing its ravages should not have been practised, 

 is somewhat remarkable. An exceedingly 

 simple one is recommended by Deane, but to 

 be successful it should be universally adopted. 

 It consists merely in keeping seed-peas in tight 

 vessels over one year before planting them. 

 Latreille and others recommend putting them, 

 just before they are to be planted, into hot 

 water for a minute or two, by which means the 

 weevils will be killed, and the sprouting of the 

 peas will be quickened. The insect is limited 

 to a certain period for depositing its eggs ; late 

 sown peas therefore escape its attack. The 

 "ate Colonel Pickering observed that those sown 

 n Pennsylvania as late as the 20th of May, 

 were entirely free from weevils ; and Colonel 

 Worthington, of Rensselaer county, New York, 

 who sowed his peas on the 10th of June, 6 

 years in succession, never found an insect in 

 .hem during that period. (Harris.) 



PEA, COW. The plant called by this com- 

 mon name in lower Virginia and the Carolinas, 

 is there extensively cultivated. In some parts 

 of Virginia it is called the Yeatman pea, from 

 the person by whom it was introduced from the 

 Eastern Shore. The pea is of a yellowish 

 colour, is very productive both in vine and 

 seed, unusually hardy in remaining uninjured 

 Dy rain, after becoming ripe, and for table use 

 s much esteemed. But it is chiefly cultivated, 

 n common with several varieties of Indian 

 aeas, in fields, to plough under for the benefit 

 of successive crops, as a substitute for clover, 

 Duckwheat, and other plants not so well adapt- 

 ed to southern culture. The vines of this and 

 the varieties of the Indian pea, all make excel- 

 ent long forage for common work-horses, 

 oxen, milch-cows, or sheep. The curing of 

 the vine is sometimes difficult, as it requires a 

 longer time than most other forage plants. 

 Some stack it aAvay with layers of dry straw, 



