INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 



[Sept. 1 89:). 



the beetles use their wmgs freely, and find their way into 

 fields and gardens. Some beetles are sown in the seed peas, 

 and either die or make their way to the light, and in due 

 time pair and deposit eggs upon the young pea pods. No 

 Writer upon this insect has suggested that the beetle feeds upon 

 the pea plants, although c ireful observations have been made by 

 many economic entomologists respecting ils habits. Directly 

 there is sufficient warmth, the beetle takes to its wings, and 

 may or may not feed upon other plants, or it may not feed at 

 all, existing — as a French entomologist suggests in the case of the 

 Apple Blossom Weevil, Anthonomus po77iorii,m — upon a reserve 

 of fat {corps graisseux) stored up in its body. The construction 

 of its head, snout, and jaws is not at all fitted for feeding 

 upon pea plants in the same way as the Pea Weevil (Sitones 

 lineatus). 



It was supposed by earl3^ writers upon the Bruchus pihi that 

 the larva did not touch either the germ, or gemmule, or the radicle, 

 and that therefore Ihe germination of the pea would not be 

 materially interfered with. Even supposing that the gemmule 

 and radicle were left untouched, the cotyledons, or seed leaves, 

 which are essential to the proper development of the plant, are 

 invariably destroyed, and the stores of starch laid up for its use 

 in the ovules are consumed. In many cases, germination does 

 not take place at all, and in all cases of infested seed, the ger- 

 mination must be more or less enfeebled. Professor Popenhoe 

 has made experiments in this direction recejitly at the Kansas 

 State Experiment Station. He sowed 500 " buggy " peas of 10 

 different varieties, of which only one-fourth germinated, and 

 the partial destruction of the cotyledons seriously affected the 

 growth of this proportion. In another experiment, the Professor 

 sowed 23 different varieties of peas, 100 peas of each variety, 

 with the result that the peas of 10 varieties did not germinate 

 at all, artd of the 13 others, only 58 peas germinated, of which 

 only 49 grew to average size and strength. Popenhoe found 

 that of 275 " buggy " peas there were only 69 in which the germ 

 was not entirely, or partially destroyed. 



Mr. Fletcher, the Canadian entomologist, carefully tested two 

 measured pints of a sample of peas grown in Canada in 1891, 

 with the following results : — No. 1 pint gave 717 uninjured seed 

 peas ; 413 injured, none of which grew ; and 64 injured peas 

 which grew. No. 2 pint gave 613 uninjured ; 479 injured, of 

 which none grew ; and 49 injured which germinated. 



Infestation of peas by this beetle has most serious conse- 

 quences. The crop may be so bad that it must be ploughed 

 up, or so enfeebled that it would pay lietter to plough it up. 

 The greatest care should, therefore, be taken to avoid sowing 

 "buggy" peas. Not only is the crop more or less a failure, 

 but the beetles in the peas are distributed in the neighbourhood 

 of the field or garden, and will certainly infest the peas growing 

 near. 



