6 MISCELLANEOUS OOTTON INSECTS. 



It niii}" not be out of place hero to l)rieHy refer to previous articles 

 on cotton insects. Having ])riefly mentioned a few species during the 

 preceding year, in 1855 Townend Olover included an article on cotton 

 insects in his report to the Commissioner of Patents for that year, 

 illustrated with numerous figures of the more common species." Later 

 he engraved better figures of many of these species, with which he 

 published a few notes. ^ 



In 1892 F. W. Mally, at that time an assistant in the Division of 

 Entomolog}^ in his report on the bollworm,'' mentioned several cotton 

 insects whose injuries might be mistaken for those of the bollworm. 

 Some portions of this report were republished in Insect Life. As a 

 result of an investigation of the insects frequenting cotton fields in 

 Mississippi, Dr. William H. Ashmead published several papers'' in 

 which he gives brief notes on the habits of the insects found. In 181»6 

 Dr. L. O. Howard gave the first general account of cotton insects 

 published since that of Glover.'' Since the puldication of this paper 

 no general stud}^ has been made of cotton insects other than the boll 

 weevil and l)ollworm, except that excellent work of Prof. H. A. 

 Morgan upon the difi'erential locust, which is noted in the account of 

 that insect in the following pages. 



From his study of the life histories of the minor cotton insects and 

 the methods of cotton culture, the writer believes that for but few of 

 them will artificial remedies, such as poisoning, be found generally 

 practicable. Like most of the insects afi^ecting our staple crops, thej^^ 

 must ])e largely controlled by general methods of culture and farm 

 management, such as the destruction of their native food plants, rota- 

 tion of crops, and winter or early spring plowing. More intensive 

 cultivation of cotton will undoubtedly result in a material lessening of 

 the injur}' b}' many of these pests, and, under such conditions, those 

 which may be profitably combated l\v remedial treatments will be 

 more successfully and generally treated. 



Most of the work upon the life histories described below was done 

 b}^ Mr. A. C. Lewis, who was in charge of a temporar}' laboratory 

 upon the demonstration farm of Mr. K. H. R. Green, at Terrell, 

 Tex., and 1)y Mr. C. P]. Sanborn at the la])oratory at College Station. 

 Mr. A. F. Conradi, at that time assistant entomologist of Texas, also 

 helped in the work. The writer is indebted to Doctor Ashmead, of 



« Report of U. S. Comm. Patents f. 1855, Agrirulture, 1856, pp. 64-115, pis. (i-lO. 



''Manuscript notes from my journal. — Cotton and the princijaal insects, etc., fre- 

 quenting or injuring the plant in the United States. Washington, IX (l, 1878, 2 pj>., 

 22 plates. 



C1893: Bui. 29, o. s., Div. of Ent., U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 29-3.S. 

 - ^n 894-95: Insect Life, Vol. VII, pp. 25-29, 240-247, 320-326. 



«1896: "The Cotton Plant." Bui. 33, Off. Exp. Sta., U. 8. I)ei)t. Agric, pp. 

 316-350, figs. 9-29, Pi. IV; and 1897: ^Farmers' Bui. 47, T^. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 31, 

 18 figs., 1 pi. 



