469 



and remain attached to the plant for long periods after they 

 have split open and exposed the little blackish seeds but little 

 larger than a fnll-sized adnlt B. pruininus. I have also found 

 it attacking the seeds of Seshania seshan in the open. In this 

 plant the pods are long and slender and hang for a long time 

 upon the tree, in time splitting open on one side so as to permit 

 oviposition upon the seeds, though the opening is so narrow as 

 to cause one to wonder how the beetle is able to reach them. 

 The adults from these seeds are also somewhat under-sized. 

 From less than a pint of these seeds I secured more than a 

 thousand seeds upon which eggs had been laid, and a large 

 part of these later produced beetles. It has been recorded 

 from California as breeding in the seeds of the desert iron 

 wood {Olneya tesota), from black locust (Robinia pseudaca- 

 cia) and from some of the introduced species of Acacia. 



In confinement I have induced B melius pruininus to ovi- 

 posit upon 44 species of seeds, as may be seen in the table 

 presented further on in this paper. Of these Glycine hispida, 

 AracJiis liypogaea, Prosopis jidiflora, Cassia fistula, C. nodosa,. 

 Desmodium uncinatum, Albizzia saponaria, DesmantMis vir- 

 gcdus. Acacia hoa, and Caesalpinia pidclierrima can serve as 

 larval food and from them adults have been bred. It is hardly 

 to be expected that any of these excepting perhaps Desmanthus 

 and Albizzia saponaria will be found infested naturally. 



Bruchus pruininus is easily reared in captivity, the adults 

 mating immediately after emergence, the females ovipositing 

 in about three days. The adults in nature visit the flowers of 

 the host plants and feed upon the pollen. On the heads of 

 Leucaena they soon work their way down among the stamens 

 and remain for some time. In captivity they readily feed 

 upon nectar, sugar and water, or honey, and if fed will live 

 for a number of days. I should judge that they may live for 

 a month or more. Feeding need not precede oviposition though. 

 apparently it does normally. 



In mating the hind tibiae of the male are bent beneath the 

 abdomen of the female, while the front and middle legs keep 



