ii6 Second Report on Economic Zoology. 



found upon the cotton plant until late in December. It is found 

 most abundantly in the early winter hidden between the involucre 

 and the boll, and later in the dry and open bolls. When the plants 

 aie cut, or when the bolls rot and decay, the Weevils seek shelter 

 amongst rubbish on the surface of the ground, and amongst weeds, 

 etc., and remain there until the warm days of spring, when they fly 

 to such volunteer plants as may be up ; upon these they feed and lay 

 theii' eggs upon the early squares. They then attack the young 

 cotton crop, and by their punctures, either for feeding or egg-laying, 

 cause a wholesale shedding of the young squares. The life-cycle 

 takes, it seems, four weeks. When the bolls form, the Weevils also 

 attack them and oviposit in them, and the larva? live in the interior 

 just as they do in the " squares," but the bolls do not drop. There 

 is a constant succession of generations from spring until frost sets in. 

 A single larva usually occurs in a " square " ; as many as twelve may 

 txjcur in a *' boll." The punctures made by the AVeevil are compara- 

 tively characteristic, and where a boll is discoloured and has begun 

 to crack at the tip the larva or pupa can be seen. Later the Weevils 

 (.an be found between the involucre and the boll ; when no Weevils 

 are present, the yellow granular excrement which collects at the base 

 of the boll is a good indication of their presence. 



Remedies. 



(1) Trapping overwintered beetles by means of a few early 

 planted rows of cotton plants, a row or two across the middle of every 

 twenty acres. 



(2) Destruction of volunteer plants in corn-helds or abandoned 

 fields. 



(3) Picking fallen squares as fast as possible, from the time the 

 squares are formed in the plant. 



(4) Cutting and burning the cotton stalks as early in the fall as 

 practicable, and, if possible, ploughing the fields at the same time. 



(5) Trapping the last Weevils in the field J)y means of a few 

 plants left standing. 



(6) Spraying is effectual if the nozzles of the spraying-machines 

 are distributed vertically, not, as usual, horizontally. 



The spray recommended is (No. 1) for trap rows : — Two gallons 

 cane molasses ; 2 ozs. arsenic (90 per cent.) boiled in one gallon of 

 water until dissolved ; 4 ozs. arsenate of lead dissolved in a gallon 

 of water ; 46 gallons water. 



(Xo. 2) Main crop or midsummer formula to be used as soon as 



