W. R. DWTGHT. 83-(53) 



or not. From the number of grubs in one bean it would 

 appear as if numerous eggs may be deposited at once, 

 yet on the other hand this may be the work of many in- 

 sects operating over one bean ; it is more in harmony 

 with the genera] habits of the weevil to lay but one egg 

 for one seed. 



When the egg is hatched the larva bores into the bean 

 and feeds upon its mealy substance as it grows into a 

 fleshy grub, By this time the bean has hardened, and 

 this grub completes its smooth round burrow, one ex- 

 tremity of which, at least, always reaches exactly to the 

 outer skin of the bean without breaking it. When beans 

 have been entered by these grubs, the fact may be detect- 

 ed by close examination at the time the crop is gathered, 

 by the minute discolored punctures on the bean, and the 

 contiguous part of the inner surface of the pod. 



The full-grown larva is thick, white, footless, some- 

 what curved, with bluntly rounded extremities, and a 

 minute whitish head, yellowish brown about the jaws, 

 sunk almost out of sight in one end of the body. It is 

 from one-seventh to one-fourteenth of an inch in length. 

 The damage to the bean is mainly done at this larval stage, 

 — the eating stage. My own observations would show that 

 each grub devours but little more of the bean than what 

 suffices to afford him room in which snugly to undergo 

 his transformations, the extra room being generally to- 

 wards the center, and tilled with the yellowish powdery 

 excrements. If, therefore, the numbers were limited to 

 one or two to a bean, but little injury would result. Un- 

 fortunately there is no such moderate limit to the num- 

 bers. 



This insect enters upon its second stage at no very defi- 

 nite time ; it may be during the latter part of the autumn, 

 or during the winter, or even in the early spring. It be- 

 comes a motionless pupa ; its head up to this time, so 

 minute, now becomes disproportionately large and prom- 

 inent, as are also the thoracic segments, while the 

 abdomen before fleshy, bluntly rounded, and equal to 

 the anterior extremity, in size, now becomes thin, flat- 

 tened and pointed ; a set of articulated limbs appear, 

 folded demurely diagonally across the thorax. 



As spring approaches, or during its development, these 

 pupse wake up from their mummy-like repose, cast their 



