St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-10-27
FARMER AND PLANTER.
THE GRAIN "wERvILs."
Their Rate 70 Development So Rap
Id That They Do an Almost In.
calculable Amount OF Mischief.

All the various species of insects
that attack stored grain are indis-
criminately called weevils, or simply
"weevil," but the only true grain wee
wills are the granary and rice weevil.
These two insects resemble each other
in structure as well as in habit. They
are small, flattened, brown snout, bee
ties of the family of Calandridae.
Neither is more than a sixth of an
inch in length, but their rate of de-
velopment is SO rapid that they do
an almost incalculable amount of in
jury in a short period of time. Their
heads are prolonged into long snout
or proboscis, at the end of which are
the mandibles; their antenae are ell
bowed and attached to the proboscis.
The granary weeyil has been known
rs an enemy to stored grain since the
earliest times. Having become domes-
ticated ages ago, it has long since lost
the use of its wings and is strictly an
indoor species. The mature weevil
measures from an eighth of to the
sixth of an inch-is of uniform shin
ing chestnut brown in color and has
the thorax sparsely and longitudinal
~ punctured.
The larva is legless, considerably
shorter than the adult, white in color,
very robust and fieshy. The female
punctures the grain with her snout
and then inserts an egg, from which
is Matched a larva that devours the
,1x, int 70
transformation in the hull. In wheat
and other small cereals a single larva
inhabits a grain, but kernel of corn
furnishes food for several individuals.
The midsummer period from egg to
adult is about six weeks, and there
may be. under favorable conditions,
four or five broods in the north, and
as many as six or seven in the south.
This species is injurious TO wheat,
corn and barley and other grains, and
attacks, also, the chick flea (Cicer
arietinum) food product Of the trop-
les. Unlike the moths which attack
grain, the adult weevils feed upon
the kernels, gnawing into them for
food and for shelter, and being quite
long-lived, probably do even more
damage than their larva. This species
is very prolific. egg laying continuing
over an extended period. 1t has been
estimated that one pair will, in the
course of year, produce 5000 de-
scendants. and it will be seen that the
progeny of a single pair are capable,
in a short time, of causing considera-
be damage. In the state of Texas
alone the annual loss from this in
sect and rats is estimated at $1,000
600. and the loss from granary insects,
to the corn crop of Alabama in 1893
was estimated $1,671 1882, or about ten
per cent. Estimating the annual loss
in the same proportions, we would
have for these eight southern states
Carolina, Georgia, Florida,
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tex
as and Arkansas, a total Of nearly
100000 900, and this to corn alone.
In regard to the susceptibility Of
different grains to weevil attack, it
may be said that unhusked rice, oats
and bnckwheat are practically ex-
empt, but the hull of barley offers less
protection to the seeds. Husked or
hulled grains are naturally more ex-
posed to infestation, and the softer /;
varieties suffer more than do the !
harder, fiinty sorts.
Nearly all of the grain-feeding spe-
cies in the United States, have been |
and are now cosmopolitan,
having been distributed by commerce |
to all quarters of the earth. Upwards |
of forty species occur commonly in
granaries, these living throughout |
their adolescent stages within the |
kernel of the grain.
A few of the representatives." are,
the bisulphide of carbon. BY reason
OF its intensive action, this is the best |
known remedy against all insects that
affect stored products. Prompt thresh-
ing, inspection, quartering, disinfec- |
ton, scrupulous cleanliness in the
matter of bins and grain bags is sug-
gested as being along the proper line
for the determination of the pest or
them from doing great |
H. Chittenden, in Ameri-
can Farm.