[1] The latter are slender and elongated,[5] and the eighth abdominal sternite in particular is large and sclerotized, "with a characteristic boomerang shape".

[3] This part of the genitalia has been called the "urosternite", but other authors suggest the term "ventral plate" is more appropriate.

The fruit pods develop a callus when attacked, by the beetle, and this growth is mediated by bruchins, compounds so far known only from seed-beetles.

[1] The female lays eggs on the fruit pod of its host legume in spring and summer, and the larva enters a seed to develop.

[1] Among the major agricultural pests in the genus are B. lentis on lentils, B. pisorum on peas, and B. rufimanus on fava beans.

B. rufipes was found inside jars of Spanish vetchling (Lathyrus clymenum) seeds in the ruins of Akrotiri, a settlement on the island of Santorini destroyed in the Minoan eruption of its volcano.

Some authors, though, continued to classify new seed-beetles in Bruchus, creating a disorganized taxon full of species quite obviously unrelated to one another.