58 



pect that boll weevils will be unable to maintain them- 

 selves generally in even the northern-most portion of 

 these states. Furthermore, we must face the fact that 

 the boll weevil has shown a wonderful ability to adapt 

 itself to colder climatic conditions as it has spread 

 northward from Mexico through fully ten degrees of 

 latitude. This adaptation may, in time, enable the 

 weevil to survive in sections that it has not yet infested. 



Cotton Worm Stripping Controls Weevils. — The 

 effect of the cotton worm upon the boll weevil is a 

 very interesting illustration of insect inter-relationship. 

 Both of these species are confined entirely to the saine 

 food plant, cotton, although they attack different por- 

 tions of the plant. The}' do not in any way attack each 

 other directly, except that where stripping is complete 

 the worms may consume squares which happen to be 

 infested by the weevil. Either species occurring alone 

 is rightly considered a serious pest upon cotton, but 

 when the two species occur together, after half or two- 

 thirds of the squares are infested by the weevils, the 

 cotton worm becomes one of the most effective natural 

 agencies controlling the multiplication of the boll wee- 

 vil in the fall and thereby greatly reducing the number 

 of weevils occurring the following summer. The benefit 

 is not to the present, but to the succeeding crop and the 

 cotton worm in boll weevil territory should not be 

 poisoned after the boll weevil has infested half of the 

 squares present but considered as a valuable friend 

 and ally of the cotton farmer. 



Proliferation in Squares and Bolls. — In response to 

 the irritation or injury inflicted by the weevil to squares 

 and bolls, there commonly occurs a very rapid forma- 

 tion of new cells in the effort of the plant to heal the 

 wounds caused by the weevil. This process of cell for- 

 mation is called proliferation. These new cells are 

 thin-walled, large cells wdiich form a soft, almost gela- 

 tinous mass and this condition may spread to a con- 

 siderable distance from the point of attack and may 

 ultimately affect the entire square or ])oll. The large, 

 soft cells are sometimes formed so rapidly and abund- 

 antly that the mass exerts considerable pressure, even 

 bursting through the walls of the affected forms. It 

 thus happens tliat the weevil eggs may be crushed be- 

 fore they hatch or if they hatch, the grubs or pupae, 

 and sometimes even the newly formed adult stages, 

 will be crushed and destroyed by this abundant prolif- 



