224 SCHOOL ENTOMOLOGY 



half as wide. The larvae are about 5/16 inch long when full 

 grown, are reddish-brown, taper somewhat posteriorly, and 

 bear a tail-like brush of brown hairs half as long as the body. 

 132. The Pea- Weevil.* The common pea-weevil occurs 

 wherever peas are grown throughout the world and is the 

 cause of "buggy" peas. It does but little damage in the 

 more northern latitudes and seedsmen secure their seed from 

 Canada and northern Michigan and Wisconsin. The 

 weevil is of an oval shape, about one-fifth inch long and half 

 as wide, of a blackish ground color, variegated with black 



b a c 



FIG. 156. The pea-weevil (Bruchus pisorum L.) (From Chittenden, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



a, adult beetle; 6, larva; c, pupa all enlarged. 



and white markings as shown in Fig. 156. The abdomen 

 projects beyond the wing-covers and is marked with two 

 black spots at the tip. The weevils appear in the fields 

 when the peas are in bloom and lay the eggs on the surfaces 

 of the young pods. The young larva bores through the pod 

 into the seed, in which it grows rapidly. When grown it is 

 about one-fourth of an inch long and half as wide, is a fleshy, 

 nearly cylindrical, strongly wrinkled, white grub, with a 

 brown head and very short stubby legs. It makes a round 

 hole in the pea, leaving the thin surface membrane as a 

 covering and then transforms to the pupa within the pea. 

 * Bruchus pisorum Linn. Family Bruchidce, see page 122. 



