174 



BuivLKTIN 87 



The adult boll weevil is usually about one-fourth inch in length, 

 some specimens being as small as an eighth inch and others as large 

 as one-third inch. This measurement includes the snout which is 

 about one-half the length of the body. The color of the adult is 

 almost uniformly grayish or brownish. The adult weevil may hiber- 

 nate in cotton seed, weeds, trash, haystacks, etc. It flies to the 

 cotton fields in the spring and breeding soon begins. The eggs are 



Fig. 1 — The cotton boll weevil, a and b, adults, c, larva, d, pupa, e, adult 

 feeding- on cotton boll, section removed to show larva within (natural size), f, 

 ;arva in square. 



laid in cavities eaten by the female weevils in cotton squares and 

 bolls. The grub lives entirely inside the square or boll and in from 

 seven to ten days changes to the pupa. In this stage it does not 

 feed, but in about five days transforms into the adult or winged 

 stage. The boll weevil adult is not known to feed on any other 



