58 



IKJUEIOUS INSECTS 



should have fallen into this error, for it is not only the 

 accepted view with some writers for the agricultural 

 press, but has been adopted by many eminent entomolo- 

 gists. All this comes of course from one man's palming 

 off the opinions of another as his own, whether good or 

 bad, without due credit. 



The true natural history of the Pea-weevil may be 

 thus briefly told. The beetles begin to appear as soon as 

 our peas are in bloom, and when the young pods form, 

 the female beetles gather upon them, and deposit their 

 eggs on any part whatever of the surface, without 

 attempting to insert the eggs within the pod. 



The eggs, which are of a deep yellow, 0.035-inch 

 long, are three times as long as wide, pointed in front, 



m 



Fig. 37.— PEA-WEEVIL. 

 b. Side View ; c, Larva : d. Pupa. 



blunt behind, but larger anteriorly than posteriorly. 

 They are fastened to the pod by some viscid fluid, which 

 dries white, and glistens like silk. As the operation of 

 depositing is only occasionally noticed during cloudy 

 weather, we may safely assume that it takes place for the 

 most part by night. If pea vines are carefully examined 

 any time during the month of June, the pods will often 

 be found to have from one to fifteen or twenty such eggs 

 upon them, and the black head of the future larva may 

 frequently be noticed through the delicate shell. 



As already stated, the eggs are deposited on all parts of 



