October, ’24] 
LARSON: WEEVILY SEED BEANS 
547 
examined to determine the extent of weevil injury the seed had sus¬ 
tained, but they grew from beans that had been piled there, vines and 
all, the previous autumn for observations as to the effect of the winter 
weather on weevils in beans left out in the open. 
May 25th, one row each of the following varieties of beans and cow- 
peas were planted: Brown Kentucky Wonder, Cranberry, Bayo, Mexi¬ 
can Red, Pink, New Era cowpeas and weevily Blackeyed cowpeas. 
May 26th one row of Superior Kentucky Wonder, Ventura Wonder 
Wax, Eastern Cornfield, Red Valentine, and a few seeds each of Teparies, 
Burpee’s Stringless Green Pod and unknown varieties culled from seed 
beans. 
One row each of Pink, Mexican Red and Black Wax had been left 
standing all winter, and were plowed under on April 10th. These beans, 
remaining in the pods and being kept off the ground, were practically 
all filled with weevils. Many had emerged before they were plowed 
under. 
It is thought that the different planting of beans, weevily and clean, 
the volunteer beans, and the beans left standing all winter, furnished a 
wonderful opportunity for the spread of weevils into the new crop, if it 
were possible for such a thing to occur in this manner. The beans were 
carefully watched for the presence of weevil or weevil injury. Beans were 
ripe by the middle of July, but there had been no weevil work observed, 
and later observations bore out the fact that no weevil injury had 
occurred. 
On July 22nd, a few B. obtectus were liberated, and on July 24th the 
first weevil work was observed. A few days later some B. quadrimacula- 
tus were liberated, and their work was soon noted. 
Eggs laid in the laboratory in July were emerging as adult weevils in 
27 to 35 days. No weevils were observed emerging in the field in any 
of these varieties of beans until September. This would tend to bear out 
the observations that no weevils had been at work in the field before 
those liberated July 22nd. 
Observations by the writer showed that B. obtectus lived over the 
winter of 1920-21 in beans in the field near Wilmington, California, and 
that they lived over the winter 1921-22 at Alhambra, California. Al¬ 
though that was the coldest and wettest winter experienced there for 
years, the temperature fell only to 22 degrees F. 
Weevils thus going over the winter and coming out in the spring 
would search for unprotected stored beans with an almost uncanny 
ability for finding them. Any beans or cowpeas in which they were 
