204 



SUBFAMILY 



-CURCULIONINJE. 



territory; rufipcunis here placed by Dietz, being transferred to 

 the next group, the additional cusp mentioned by him, when 

 present, being so small that one has to draw on the imagination 

 to see it. 



KEY TO SPECIES OF GROUP B. 



a. Larger, 4 7.5 mm.; reddish-brown, clothed with coarse, pale yellow- 



ish pubescence; antennae inserted two-fifths from apex of beak, fe- 



male, one-third from apex, male. 424. GRAXDIS. 



aa. Smaller, not over 3.5 mm.; pubescence fine and sparse above; antennae 



inserted near the apex of beak. 



b. Pitchy black; front tibiae of male not curved inward and produced 



at tip. 425. GULAUIS. 



bb. Elytra and legs more or less reddish-brown; front tibiae of male 



curved inward and produced at tip. (Pig. 79, 7;.) 426. VIIIGO. 



424 (10,985). ANTTIONOMUS GRANDIS Boh., Schon., 1843, Pt. 2, 232. 



Oblong-ovate, robust. Reddish-brown to piceous, clothed with coarse 

 pale, yellowish scale-like hairs, more dense along the median line and on 

 sides of thorax, somewhat condensed in numerous small spots on the elytra. 

 Beak half the length of body, slender, shining, sparsely pubescent at base, 

 striate and coarsely punctate on basal half of sides, finely and sparsely 

 punctured near apex, female; one-fourth shorter, coarsely punctured 

 throughout, male. Head conical, coarsely and sparsely punctate, front 

 deeply foveate. Thorax one-half wider than long, sides almost straight from 

 base to middle, strongly rounded in front; disc constricted and trans- 

 versely impressed near apex, densely and coarsely punctate. Elytra oblong, 

 one-fifth wider at base than middle of thorax, sides subparallel from base 

 to apical third, thence gradually converging to tips which are separately 

 rounded; striae rather deep, punctures large, close-set; intervals feebly 

 convex, rugose. Length 4 7.5 mm. (Fig. 84.) 



This is the 



cotton-boll weevil" which entered Texas from 



Mexico about 1892 and has 

 spread east and north as far 

 as southwestern Tennessee, 

 doing immense damage each 

 year to the cotton crop, and 

 "becoming the most serious 

 menace that ever threatened 

 any agricultural industry." 

 The egg is deposited by the fe- 

 male in a cavity formed by 

 eating into a young boll of 

 cotton. After hatching, the 



Fig. 84. The cotton boll weevil, X 4- 



(After Hunter & Hinds.) hllTR feeds UJlOll the pollen 



grains and tender tissues of the boll, and enlarges the cavity for 

 a period of one to three weeks, the time depending upon the tern- 



