April, '08] 



JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



151 



bringing with them much of the flora and fauna of tropical and other 

 countries. Until very recently nothing has been done to prevent the 

 dissemination of all kinds of new and dangerous insects to all parts of 

 the state from New Orleans as the main entrance point. As a result 

 the insect enemies of plants and animals in the Pelican state are legion. 



The authors have not attempted in this paper to catalogue all of 

 the injurious insects of the state, but as there has been no report of this 

 kind presented from Louisiana for several years, they have thought it 

 well to place on record a brief account of the most injurious insects 

 which have come to their attention during the past three years. 



The economic importance of a species is determined by the value of 

 the plants or animals which it infests. The codling moth, for ex- 

 ample, a most important pest in the North, is of no importance in 

 Louisiana, simply because the apple crop is not of commercial size. 

 The injurious insects of Louisiana therefore take a different rank, in 

 the order of their importance, than in most other states. It may be 

 well to mention that the cotton and sugar-cane crops of Louisiana far 

 excel in value any of her other products, each of these crops being 

 worth in the neighborhood of $26,000,000 annually. The yearbook of 

 the Department of Agriculture for 1905 gives the value of several of 

 Louisiana 's other important crops as follows : 



Besides the above Louisiana has important nursery and orchard in- 

 terests and the value of her output of live stock is by no means small. 



Cotton Insects 



Louisiana's cotton pest of greatest importance is, of course, the boll 

 weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boh. The state has an area of about 

 45,000 square miles, of which approximately three fourths, or 34,000 

 square miles, is embraced in the cotton-growing area. Of this, about 

 29,000 squares miles are now infested. About 15,000 square miles are 

 heavily infested, while in the remaining 14,000 the infestation is still 

 slight. Enough is already on record regarding this insect to render 

 further mention unnecessary. 



The boll worm, Heliothis ohsoleta Fab., has varied in its attacks with 

 the seasons. The past year the boll worm ravages have been partic- 

 ularly severe, and much of the injury by this pest was ascribed by 

 planters to the boll weevil. 



