THE COLEOPTERA 



141 



Coast in Georgia in 1916 and in time it will probably be present every where 

 in the cotton belt, except perhaps in the more arid portions and in places 

 where it can find little protection during cold weather. 



The adult boll weevil (Fig. 135) varies considerably in size but aver- 

 ages about a quarter of an inch in length. When it first emerges from 

 the pupa it is light brown, but it soon becomes gray or almost black. 

 It winters as the adult, hiding under rubbish, in cracks in the ground, in 

 Spanish moss growing on the trees, or in fact in any protected place, 

 though those which winter in the cotton fields appear to be least protected 

 and hence least liable to survive, while those in wooded areas winter more 

 successfully. 



a be 



Fig. 135. — Cotton Boll Weevil {Anthonomus grandis Boh.); a, side view of adult 

 beetle enlarged about six times; h, larva (grub); c, pupa; both much enlarged. (From 

 Sanderson: Insects Injurious to Farm, Garden and Orchard.) 



In spring the beetles leave their winter quarters, the time generally 

 varying from March to the last of June. "In the spring and throughout 

 the fruiting season of cotton the eggs are deposited by the female weevils 

 in cavities formed by eating into the fruit of the plant. An egg hatches 

 under normal conditions in about three days, and the grub immediately 

 begins to feed. In from 7 to 12 days the larva or grub passes into its 

 pupa stage, corresponding to the cocoon of butterflies and moths. This 

 stage lasts from 3 to 5 days. Then the adult issues, and in about 5 days 

 begins the production of another generation. Climatic conditions cause 

 considerable variation in the duration of the stages, but on an average 

 it requires from 2 to 3 weeks for the weevil to develop from the egg to 

 the adult. Males and females are produced in about equal numbers. 

 The males feed upon the squares and bolls without moving until the food 

 begins to deteriorate. The females refrain from depositing in squares 

 visited by other females. This applies throughout most of the season, 

 but late in the fall, when all the fruit has become infested, several eggs 

 may be placed in a single square or boll. As many as 15 larvae have been 

 found in a boll. The squares are greatly preferred as food and as places 



