312 



a pest of cotton when large areas of this crop began to be culti- 

 vated. This insect will be referred to at another place in this 

 paper. 



The Red Maggot. 



The red maggot occurred in Barbados as a pest of some 

 importance during two or three seasons shortly after the cotton 

 industry was taken up. More recently very little has been 

 heard of it as a pest. The injuries due to this insect result 

 from the feeding of the larvae in the cambium layer of the stems 

 of the plants, where they cause the bark and wood to die, which 

 often results in the death of the plant.' 



The Flower-bud Maggot. 



The flower-bud maggot caused very serious losses to cotton 

 growers in Antigua during the seasons 1907-8 and 1908-9. 

 As a consequence of this loss the areas planted in cotton in that 

 island have been reduced ; many estates in those districts where 

 the attacks were most serious having abandoned cotton culti- 

 vation entirely. This insect injures cotton by causing the 

 flower-buds to fall soon after they are formed. The female 

 parent deposits eggs in the tissues of very young buds, apparently 

 with the object of placing them as near the essential organs 

 of the flower as possible, in order that the larvae may be in the 

 best position to feed upon their rich food. It is obvious that 

 the loss of from 50 to 90 per cent, of the flowers or flower-buds 

 will have a very serious eñect in reducing the yield. The loss 

 in certain fields in Antigua has been as great as indicated by 

 these figures. 



The flower-bud maggot occurs only at certain seasons, and 

 as the time of its appearance is rather late, it is possible in many 

 districts to procure a profitable crop before the attack of the 

 pest commences, and in seasons when early planting is made 

 possible by early rains, Ihese estates have found that a fair 

 crop of cotton can be grown.* 



The flower-bud maggot has made its appearance in Mont- 

 serrat, where its distribution is fairly general over most of the 

 island, but no serious injury from its attacks has yet been 



