91 



and perfectly helpless. It, as well as the egg and gi'ub 

 stages, is passed wholly within the interior of the square or 

 boll. These three constitute the immature stages in the life 

 of the weevil, but are as characteristic of the insect as is the 

 adult form. 



After a few days the pupa sheds its skin and becomes the 

 fully formed adult weevil as shown in PI. I, figs. 1 and 2, 

 having the legs and snout free and usable, as are also the 

 wings, which are folded back, under and protected and hid- 

 den by, the hard Aving-covers, which m^et in a straight line 

 over the middle of the back of the beetle. For a few days the 

 adult also remains protected within the square or boll while 

 it becomes hardened and more able to care for itself. It then 

 cuts a circular hole just the size of its body in the wall of its 

 cell in the square, and through this opening makes its es- 

 cape into the outer world, where from that time on it leads 

 ^ free and active life. 



The adult weevil, therefore, is the form most commonly 

 seen around infested cotton, and this stage needs a more de- 

 tailed description. The full grown weevils vary considera- 

 bly in size and in color. In length they range between 1-8 

 and 3-8 of an inch, while the breadth of the body is ap- 

 proximately 1-3 of its length. The general color is uniform 

 over the body and varies from a chocolate brown in the 

 darkest specimens, which are usually below average size, to 

 a grayish or yellowish brown in the lighter colored larger 

 forms. The lighter colors are due to light colored scales or 

 modified hairs which occur most abundantly in the larger 

 specimens. If these are undeveloped or become rubbed off, 

 then the dark brown ground color of the weevil appears. 

 The slender snout is onlv slightlv curved and is about 1-2 

 as long as the length from the head to the tip of the body. 

 Neither the size, nor the structure or general appearance of 

 the weevil changes at all after its emergence from the 

 square or boll in its adult form. The adults feed and mate 

 and the females then deposit eggs. This completes the 

 "Life Cycle" and starts another generation all- within a pe- 

 riod of from three to four weeks. 



