36 
AN INVASION OF THE COFFEE-BEAN WEEVIL. 
An interesting but probably not unusual case lias recently come to 
light of infestation of a store at Washington, D. 0., by a little weevil 
known as Arcecerus 1 fasciculatus DeG., and which from the specific 
name, coffew, by which it has until comparatively recent times been 
known, we may call the coffee-bean weevil. 
December 1G, 1895, there were received at this office living specimens 
of the beetle which had been taken from a lot of dried apples purchased 
at a local grocery, where they were reported in great numbers. The 
writer called at the store at which this purchase was made and learned 
that there had been an invasion of the insect in this store dating from 
midsummer. 
Upon my pointing out the insect in the box of dried apples which 
they had evidently taken up as their permanent quarters the clerk 
promptly identified it as the same one that had been introduced in the 
store in an invoice of Java coffee stated to be of the finest quality and 
obtained of importers in Xew York City. The coffee was purchased 
Fig. 9. — Arcecerus fasciculatus : a, larva; b, adult beetle ; c, pupa — greatly enlarged (original). 
in August, and soon afterwards the beetles were noticed poking their 
heads through the meshes of the coffee sacks and flying and crawling 
about the room. They were particularly abundant during September 
and were still present in sufficient numbers in the middle of December 
to be noticeable, although not so abundant or so active as to cause 
serious trouble. They were described as having been a constant source 
of annoyance in spite of the fact that they were, comparatively speak- 
ing, rather cleanly in appearance for an insect. They made their pres- 
ence felt everywhere, getting into everything edible, into boxes of 
dried fruits and into crackers, showing a special fondness for fig cakes, 
and even, I was informed, intruding themselves in the refrigerator in 
search of food. 
As no general account or good illustration of this insect in its several 
stages is available, the above figure, with a brief description of its 
1 Schonherr's original spelling of this generic name is Arcecerus (See Cure. Disp. 
Meth., p. 40; Gen. et Sp. Cure., 1833, vol. i, p. 173). In 1839 (1. c., vol. v, p. 273) it 
was changed to Arceocerus, and this latter spelling has been generally adopted. 
