The Haricot-Weevil 
Bruchus has not gone beyond the botanical 
genus Phaseolus. But here is something that 
increases the danger and shows us the 
phaseolus-lover in an unexpected light. The 
Bruchus accepts without the least hesitation 
the dried pea, the broad bean, the everlasting 
pea, the vetch, the chick-pea; she passes from 
one to the other, always satisfied; her family 
live and prosper in all these legumina as well 
as they do in the haricot. Only the lentil is 
refused, perhaps because of its insufficient 
size. What a dread robber this American 
Weevil is! 
The evil would become still greater if, as 
I feared at first, the ever greedy insect passed 
from leguminous seeds to cereals. This 
it does not do. When installed in my jars 
with a heap of wheat, barley, rice or maize, 
the Bruchus invariably dies without offspring. 
The result is the same with horny seeds, such 
as coffee-beans ; with oleaginous seeds, such as 
those of the castor-oil-plant or of the sun- 
flower. Nothing outside the legumina suits 
the Bruchus. Notwithstanding these limita- 
tions, its portion is a very extensive one; and 
it uses and abuses it with the utmost energy. 
The eggs are white and drawn out into 
287 
