[thedoc (OP)]

Beth Grobbelaar asked the Naked Scientists:
   
I have just listened to you on Radio 702. I am an entomologist at the South African National Collection of Insects and have specialized in Coleoptera, the leaf beetles (Family: Chrysomelidae) in particular.

These 'Creepy Crawlies' are probably seed beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Bruchinae), sometimes referred to as 'bruchids'. They are known to attack legume seeds. Eggs are deposited on pods or directly on the seeds. In the case of beans, the eggs are deposited on the outer surface of the bean seed. In most cases the larva then bores directly through the 'floor layer' of the egg, through the seed integument, through the endocarp, and into the cotyledon where it then lives and feeds. Just before pupating the larva bores towards the surface of the seed leaving a circular cap that can easily be cut and pushed off by the adult during emergence.

What do you think?