Report of the jState Ejstomologist 269 



Epitome of Life-History of tlie Bean -weevil. 



I do not know that the eggs of the beetle have been observed on 



the growing plant, but its oviposition is presuni'ably similar to that of 



the pea-weevil, as stated by Dr. Harris: 



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 and deposit their tiny eggs singly in 

 the punctures or wounds which they make on the surface of the pods. 



Professor Riley's account varies somewhat from the above in the 

 matter of placing the eggi in that *' the beetles deposit their eggs on 

 any part whatever of the surface without attempting to insert the 

 egg within the pod." He describes the eggs, which " are fastened to 

 the pod by some viscid fluid which dries white and glistens like silk." 



The egg of the bean-weevil hatches in from eight to ten days, and 

 the larva, penetrating the pod, enters the young and growing bean. 

 When, as is usual, several occur in a single bean, each one occupies a 

 distinct cavity where it feeds and attains its growth. When in readi- 

 ness for pupation it shapes for 'itself a broadly oval cell with firmly 

 compacted white walls, within which it transforms to a pupa and 

 finally into the beetle. The larva, under normal conditions, reaches 

 maturity in the late summer, and pupates in the autumn. The length 

 of time ordinarily passed in its pupal stage is unknown, if ^we may 

 judge from the absence of record of it. 



As in most cases, the circular covering of the cell (the lid) has been 

 eaten away upon its inner surface, its faint translucency in colorless 

 beans indicates to careful inspection the presence of the insect 

 within; this is more conspicuous when the maturity of the beetle per- 

 mits its darker colors to be indistinctly seen. The emergence is by 

 pushing off the circular cap. The time when this takes place is irreg- 

 ular. It may be in the late autumn, at any time during the 

 winter months in a warmed apartment, or not until the spring when 

 not exposed to artificial warmth. For some reason the perfect beetle 

 frequently remains within its cell for months before it comes abroad, 

 and is often found dead, without apparent cause, within the bean. 

 I have at times found the beetle head downward in an open cell, as if 

 it had crept within it for the purpose of feeding. 



A Brood of Dwarfed Bean- weevils. 

 Examples of this beetle were received March 11th, for name, with 

 the statement that they were present in countless numbers in a dwell- 

 ing-house in Waterbury, Conn., occurring most abundantly in the 

 kitchen. The gentleman was surprised at the appearance of such a 

 display of insect life during the winter, and was inclined to ascribe 



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