OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XIII, l!Ul. 45 



THE WEEVILS OF VICTORIA COUNTY, TEXAS. 



BY J. D. MITCHELL AND W. DWIGHT PIERCE, 



U. S. Bureau of Entomology . 



Since the advent of the boll weevil {Anthoiwmns grundi* 

 Boheman) into Victoria County in 1894 many records have 

 been made upon the weevils of the county. This county is 

 very interesting from an entomological standpoint because of 

 its great diversity of floral regions and the blending of eastern 

 and western faunas. In addition to being able to present 

 herewith an interestingly large list of weevils from a limited 

 region, we are able to give Biological notes on most of the 

 species. Many of these records are here for the first time 

 published and some have an important bearing upon the 

 knowledge of our economic weevils. We believe that the pos- 

 session of this useful knowledge warrants us in presenting a 

 seemingly local list of insects. The senior writer, who has 

 been a resident of Victoria for many years, is responsible 

 for most of the original observations on the weevils. The 

 junior writer has been familiarizing himself more or less with 

 Victoria conditions since 1904 and is responsible for the deter- 

 minations, arrangement, and description of the new species, 

 as well as for the authenticity of the parasite records. The 

 records have been made by the following agents of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture: R. A. Cushrnan, W. E Hinds, C. 

 E. Hood, W. D. Hunter, C. R. Jones, A. McLachlan, J. D. 

 Mitchell, A. C. Morgan, F. C. Pratt, W. D. Pierce, E, A. 

 Schwarz, C. M. Walker, W. W. Yothers. 



Victoria County is situated in central southern Texas, 

 about 25 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, on the dividing line 

 between the Austroriparian or humid division and the Lower 

 Sonoran or semi-arid division of the Lower Austral life zone. 

 It has an altitude of 90 to 200 feet above sea level. The 

 Guadalupe River divides the county into nearly equal parts, 

 eastern and western. The northwestern quarter of the county 

 is sandy and well timbered with oaks; the northeastern quarter 

 is a rolling sandy prairie with the Arenosa for its eastern 

 border; the southeastern quarter is a level black prairie; and 

 the southwestern quarter is a rolling black prairie bordered 

 on the south and west by the San Antonio River. The county 

 is drained by many creeks and branches, principal among 

 which are the Garcitas, Placedo, and Colletto. The rich 

 valley of the Guadalupe extends through the county and is 

 about half a mile wide at the northern end and 2 miles at the 

 southern end. Many bayous and sloughs, old beds of the 



