THE COWPEA WEEVIL. 89 
LONGEVITY OF ADULTS. 
The beetles of this species have not been noticed feeding. Possibly 
they feed on the nectar of flowers in the open, but this is not essential 
to their existence. In experiments to determine the duration of life 
indoors considerable variation was encountered. May 16, 20 adults 
recently developed were separated and placed on dried beans. All 
were dead on May 28, with one exception — a male, which lived until 
June 21 — showing the longevity of 19 individuals to be 12 days and 
for this one 36 days. Similar experiments were made under perhaps 
better conditions and some beetles were still living at the end of 
17, 18, 19, and, in one case, 25 days. 
FOOD PLANTS. 
This species is seemingly capable of breeding on most forms of 
edible legumes, infesting practically all of the cowpeas and beans, 
and their numerous varieties, "Adsuki " beans {Phaseolus radiatus). 
pigeon peas (Cajanus indica), garden and field peas, lentils, chick- 
peas (Cicer arietinum), and the Ceylonese seeds known as "gram" 
or " mung," and in their native home as " kolu ' and " muneta," 
Phaseolus mungo. 
We have reared it from Vigna cat'jang and V. unguictdatus of many 
varieties, V. sinensis, and Dolichos biflomis, and the species has been 
collected in fields of broad beans. In the case of its attacking lentils, 
the beetles have, on several occasions, been found in India and in the 
dry seeds in the District of Columbia. It is not probable that the 
species can develop in the smallest sized seeds, unless it infests them 
in the same manner as the lentil weevil does in the field by traveling 
from one seed to another in the pod. Glycine, a small green variety 
of soy bean from China, from which we have reared it, appears to be 
an unrecorded food plant. Of other food plants,, Lefroy and How- 
lett 22 have recorded Dolichos lablab, the hyacinth bean. 
THE POINT OF EXIT OF THE BEETLE FROM THE SEED. 
While examining some Blackeye cowpeas for illustration it was 
noticed that the majority of the seed showed exit holes of the beetle 
on the anterior or left half of the seed viewed with the plumule 
or germ end downward. To learn how general this was, 100 seed 
were counted out, with the result that 47, or nearly 50 per cent, 
showed exit holes on the anterior half, 29 on the posterior or right 
half, 8 near the middle, and 5 near one end, while 11 showed two 
exit holes. These seed were from the field at Norfolk, Va., where 
only moderate infestation occurred. In no case was the plumule 
or germ invaded, the beetles not even attacking the " eye " or black 
