Apr. 17, 1916 Insect Injury to Cotton Seedlings 139 



of the stem, producing retardation of the fruiting. Of these the deform- 

 ing of the stalk is evidently much the more important. Field examina- 

 tions have shown that an average of 8 per cent of the plants in the 

 fields under observation were deformed and that these abnormal plants 

 averaged 2.6 squares per plant less than the normal ones about the 

 middle of June. As the cotton in these fields averages about 4 feet 

 between the rows and is spaced about 18 inches in the drill, this would 

 mean a loss of over i ,500 squares per acre at the critical period in cotton 

 production in the presence of boll weevils. 



The "woolly-bear" larvse mentioned in this paper were reared and 

 proved to be Estigmene acraea Drury. Two of the cutworms have been 

 identified by Mr. S. H. Crumb, of the Bureau of Entomology, as Prodenia 

 ornithogalli Guenee and Peridroma margaritosa Haworth, var. saucia 

 Hiibner. 



