HARVESTING AND STORAGE 



49S 



are these two statements 

 briefly : a few weevils 

 are found crawling over 

 the maize ears in the 

 field ; they are carried 

 into the yard or shed 

 where the ears are stored 

 for shelling, and thus find 

 their way into the build- 

 ings. When conditions 

 are favourable, the female 

 weevil lays her eggs on 

 the maize-grain, near the 

 soft end. From the egg 

 there hatches out a min- 

 ute grub which bores into 

 the soft end of the grain 

 and begins to feed there, 

 gradually working to- 

 wards the upper part of 

 the grain, and eating out 

 a tunnel large enough to 

 fit its enlarging body, 

 leaving only a thin piece 

 of the hull between itself 

 and the outer air ; it then 

 pupates, and when com- 

 bined conditions of mois- 

 ture and temperature are 

 favourable, the mature, 

 blackish weevil pushes 

 its way out of the hole. 

 The two sexes then seek 

 each other, mate, and 

 the female lays her eggs ; 

 thus the life cycle is 

 complete. 



There may be several 

 generations of weevils 

 in a year. 



to be reconciled ? The 



facts are CHAP. 

 XI. 



Fig. igi. — Effect of larvae of the angoumois 

 grain-moth on maize-grain in the ear. 



