April, '14] HUNTER: BOLL WEEVIL QUARANTINE 235 



modern cleaner feeders kill many more. The number of such feeders 

 in actual use in the country is comparatively small, so that the escape 

 of weevils from the gin must be considered important. In addition to 

 the adult weevils that may be taken to the gin in the manner described, 

 many of immature stages may be so transported. In fact these stages 

 are considerably more important in connection with carriage in cotton 

 products than the adults. It is not rare that the weevil larvse, pupae 

 and teneral adults are found within the seeds themselves occupying 

 the space originally taken by the kernel W'hich has been devoured. 

 All of the weevils of this class undoubtedly pass through the gins with- 

 out injury. There are, moreover, two additional classes of immature 

 weevils w^hich occur in the cotton as it is picked in fields. One of these 

 consists of pupae imbedded in masses of lint. They form a definite cell 

 which is very similar to cotton seed, although somewhat larger. These 

 cells readily pass through the gins. The other class of weevils to be 

 considered in this connection is contained in very small bolls. In the 

 fall when the infestation m the fields becomes heavy it frequently hap- 

 pens that bolls of very small size are attacked. In many cases their 

 contents are barely sufficient to support a weevil during its immature 

 stages. Under such circumstances the carpel of the boll forms a per- 

 fect protection for the insect, in fact, a more thorough protection than 

 the cells formed by the lint or by the shell of the seed itself. These 

 bolls, therefore, carry many weevils through the process of ginning. 



After the weevils have passed through the gins they are forced with 

 the seed into the seed houses or sometimes directly into the cars. Ex- 

 aminations of seed being discharged by the blowers has frequently 

 shown the presence of the insects. In a mass of seed the shelter for the 

 weevil is almost perfect. In fact, their chances of passing the winter 

 are nearly equal to those under the most favorable conditions in the fields. 

 The weevil may remain in hibernation from October to June. If speci- 

 mens happen to be located in seed an excellent opportunity for trans- 

 portation over long distances is given. It would be perfectly easy for 

 specimens to be taken from the United States to remote parts of the 

 world in this w^ay. A lot of infested seed shipped from Galveston any 

 time during the fall would reach Egypt at the proper season to enable 

 emerging weevils to attack the cotton there w^hich is planted in the 

 month of February. The planting Season in India runs from June to 

 August, depending upon the latitude and this would not interfere se- 

 riously with the introduction of the insect in that country. 



In the United States the first quarantine restrictions were inaugu- 

 rated in 1903, — the state of Georgia being the first to take such action. 

 At that time apparenth little was known about the habits of the wee- 

 vils and the commodities in which they would be likely to be trans- 



