12S JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 5 



flights that in many cases undoubtedly carried them far beyond the 

 limits they would have reached if normal cotton had been available. 

 Consequently the most extended northward flight of the weevil on 

 record has been found to have occurred in 1911. 



As the result of the effect upon the weevil and the fact that the 

 height of the outbreak did not occur until comparatively late in the 

 season, it cannot be claimed that the invasion of 1911 was especially 

 injurious to the crop. 



A factor of the situation in which the cotton planters, if not the 

 entomologists, are especially interested is whether there is likely to 

 be another outbreak during the coming season. From a priori con- 

 siderations it seems probable that such repetition is likely to occur. 

 At any rate the chronology of the insect shows a distinct tendency 

 towards series of two or three years in which the damage gradually 

 culminates. On this basis it might be supposed that the invasion of 

 1911 will be followed by a heavier one next year. Of course, any 

 prediction is extremely hazardous as much depends upon the climatic 

 conditions that may occur between now and spring. The writer has 

 under way studies which may throw light on this subject and for the 

 present will be compelled to withhold a definite prediction as to what 

 may be expected. 



President F. L. Washburn: Any discussion of this paper? 



WiLMON Newell: Mr. President, I would like to ask Mr. Hunter 

 what, in his opinion, would make the outbreak the coming year less 

 serious than the present one. 



W. D. Hunter: Extreme fluctuations in temperature will undoubt- 

 edly be the principal factor, and unquestionably a certain degree of 

 humidity. I think, in all probability, the case will be very similar 

 to that of the boll weevil, in which the humidity during the winter 

 months is one of the very important factors in the survival. 



WiLMON Newell: You think that high humidity during the 

 winter will be in favor of the insect? 



W. D. Hunter: Exactly. 

 . President F. L. Washburn: Does that insect come to maturity 

 on anything other than cotton? 



W. D. Hunter: That brings up an old question debated much in 

 the early days. The conclusion arrived at from numerous observa- 

 tions and breeding experiments was that there was absolutely no 

 other food plant. One fact that caused the theory of another food 

 plant to be propounded, was the occurrence of apparently unrubbed 

 specimens in the late fall and early spring. We have two records 

 of unrubbed adults captured at Racine, Wisconsin, one on the 15th 

 of Februarv and one on the 23d of Februarv. I think those cases are 



