Congressional Edition Volume 3326 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 Excerpt: ...insects are known to have parasites. The good work that is sometimes done by parasites in limiting the multiplication of their grain-feeding hosts is exemplified in a case cited of Ephextia kueliniella being destroyed by a parasite when other means had failed to dislodge it in the warehouses which it had invaded. THE GRANARY WEEVIL. (Calandra f/ranaria Linn.) The granary weevil is the "curculio" and "weevil" of early writings, and in the (reorgics of Virgil there is evidence that the insect and its ravages were known before the Christian era. It is probable that this, as well as some other cosmopolitan species that are generally supposed to have originally inhabited the Orient, is native to the Mediterranean region. Having become domesticated ages ago, it has long since lost the use of its wings, which are present only as mere rudiments and useless as organs of flight. It is strictly a granary insect, and is apparently perfectly naturalized in regions much farther north than are inhabited by the rice weevil. The adult granary Weevil lti' M.--t'alandra granaria: a, adult bet-tie; b, larva; c. pupa; d. Calaiutrit itryza, lit't'tle--all i'iil;ir-;el (original). is a small, flattened snoutbeetle of the family Calandridie, measuring from an eighth to a sixth of an inch, being on an average a trifle larger than the rice weevil, from which it differs in being of a uniform shining chestnut-brown color, in having the thorax sparsely and longitudinally punctured, as indicated at figure 43, a, and in being wingless. The head is prolonged in front into a long snout or proboscis, at the end of which are the mandibles; the antennne are elbowed and are attached to the proboscis. The larva is legless, considerably shorter than the adult, white-in c...