U. S. D. A., B. E. Bui. 85, Part VIII. Issued September 21, 1910. 



PAPERS ON CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. 



THE COWPEA CURCULIO. 



(Chalcodermus seneus Boh.) 



By Geo. G. Ainslie, 

 Entomological Assistant. 



INTRODUCTION. 



Among the insects investigated during the summers of 1908 and 

 1909 in South Carolina, and especially in the vicinity of Clemson 

 College in that State, the cowpea curculio, hitherto known as the 

 cowpea-pod weevil, was found to be very abundant and destructive. 

 This beetle (fig. 67, a) is bronze-black in color, about a quarter of an 

 inch long, with the thorax and elytra deeply and abundantly pitted. 

 Damage is caused to cowpeas by punctures made in the pods and 

 "peas" by the adults for the purposes of feeding and oviposition and 

 by the feeding of the larvae within the maturing "peas." The 

 damage, though seemingly widespread, is not very evident, as it 

 affects the value of the crop only where the "peas" are grown for 

 seed. More serious injury is done by this species in early spring to 

 young cotton, which it is forced to use for food. Individual cotton 

 plants or the entire stand in a field may be injured or completely 

 destroyed. 



Very little has been written on this insect, although the ento- 

 mologists of Texas and other southern States frequently receive 

 specimens and requests for information concerning its habits. As 

 it has a superficial resemblance to the Mexican cotton boll weevil 

 and is frequently found in cotton fields, it is one of the species often 

 taken by the cotton growers to be that dreaded pest and as such 

 has many times been sent to southern entomologists for verification. 



In spite of its wide distribution and common occurrence, its life 

 history had probably not been determined until within the last two 

 years. Notes on its habits and distribution have been obtained 

 from several sources, among others from the records of Messrs. Hunter 

 and Chittenden and by correspondence from Prof. Wilmon Newell, 

 now entomologist of the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 The data regarding the habits of the larvae and all the definite life- 

 history records were obtained by the writer during the summer and 



fall of 1908 and 1909 at Clemson College, S. C. 



129 



