The Life of the Weevil 
Weevil-larva would ever find an adequate 
meal there, unless by biding its time until the 
seed ripened. 
But is the grub, once hatched, capable of 
long fasting? It is doubtful. The little 
that I have seen tells me that the new-born 
larva begins eating with all speed and, if it 
cannot do so, dies. I therefore regard as 
lost the eggs laid upon immature pods. The 
prosperity of the race will hardly suffer, 
thanks to the Weevil’s fertility. Moreover, 
we shall see presently with what reckless 
prodigality she scatters her germs, most of 
which are doomed to perish. 
The bulk of the mother’s work is finished 
by the end of May, when the pods begin to 
bulge with protuberances revealing the 
pressure of the peas, which have now at- 
tained their final size, or very nearly. I was 
anxious to see the Bruchus at work, in her 
quality of a Curculio, which is how she is 
classified. The other Weevils are Rhyn- 
chophore, beak-wearers, armed with a rod 
that prepares the hollow in which the egg 
1The modern classification places the Pea- and 
Haricot-Weevils in a separate family, the Bruchida, 
whereas the family of the Curculionide includes most of 
the other, or true, Weevils.—Translator’s Note. 
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