DISEASED SEEDS 179 



be a very common pest in drug stores, 

 whence its name. It also invades mills, 

 granaries, and warehouses of all kinds. 

 It also invades the kitchen where it feeds 

 on red pepper, flour, and all sorts of 

 breakfast foods. It also eats ginger, 

 rhubarb, chocolate, dried fruits, beans, 

 peas, coifee, rice, and other seeds of every 

 description. Its larva is often found as a 

 book worm. The larva of this beetle is 

 so voracious that it is said to "eat anything 

 except cast iron." It is also the larva of 

 this beetle that is so fond of sweet pea 

 seeds, tunneling the inside, and thus com- 

 pletely destroying the germinating power 

 of the seed. The adult beetles mate and 

 the female lays her eggs on sweet pea seeds 

 and elsewhere. The young upon hatching 

 at once begin to tunnel into the seeds. In 

 the storehouse there are usually four broods 



