124 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 5 



abundance. In the south the present generation of cotton planters 

 has had but Httle experience with it and in many locaHties it was feared 

 as a serious addition to the hst of cotton insects. In the north the 

 appearance of large numbers of moths and the injury to fruit aroused 

 similar fears. Among entomologists the outbreak was almost as 

 unexpected as among the laity, as the general impression has been for 

 some years that it was unlikely that the great invasions of former years 

 would ever be repeated. 



In many respects the outbreak of 1911 was similar to those which 

 occurred in earlier years and which were described fully in the reports 

 of Comstock and Riley. This similarity extended to the time of the 

 first defoliation, the gradual progression northward, the flight of large 

 numbers of the moths in northern localities in September and October 

 and the comparative immunity from damage of small local areas 

 throughout the territory where defoliation was generally complete. 

 Nevertheless, there are certain interesting features of the outbreak 

 in addition to the fact that it was entirely unexpected. In 1895 Mr. 

 E. A. Schwarz pointed out that great changes which had taken place 

 in the cultivation of cotton in the United States had reacted upon 

 the cotton caterpillar and that the inevitable result would be a les- 

 sened probability of future outbreaks. The observations of entomol- 

 ogists who in more recent years have been connected with the investi- 

 gation of the cotton boll weevil have tended to corroborate Mr. 

 Schwarz' idea. There have been local outbreaks of some severity but 

 no general defoliation comparable to those of the '70s and earher 

 decades until the great one which took place during the year just 

 past. So great was the change that the cotton caterpillar came to be 

 considered, to .a certain degree, a beneficial insect in regions where 

 the boll weevil occurs and the desire was expressed by many planters 

 that it might be possible actually to increase the numbers of the insects 

 present for the effect it Avould have towards reducing boll weevil 

 injury. 



As has been indicated, the outbreak of 1911 was not forecasted in 

 any definite way. There was practically no defoliation in the cotton 

 belt in 1910 nor during at least three preceding seasons. In fact, 

 there was no indication of the outbreak until it had begun. The 

 earliest seasonal records in 1911 Avere from Brownsville, Texas and 

 two points not far away in Mexico. In the vicinity of Brownsville 

 as early as May 20th the defoliation had begun and by the 10th of 

 June the great majority of the fields had been stripped of their foliage. 

 From Matamoras in Mexico reports of very early defoliation have 

 been received. The same is true of localities in the state of Durango, 

 Mexico. Although these records unfortunately are rather meager 



