40 



MISCELLANEOUS COTTON INSECTS. 



specimens were received b}- the Bureau of Entomology from L. Gold- 

 man, Lagrange, Ark., who reported them boring into cotton stalks. 

 Injury by this species seems to be rather accidental, and probabl}' 

 occurs more conmionly where fields are weedy, or where they adjoin 

 uncultivated tields. 



INSECTS AFFECTING THE FRUIT. 

 THE COTTON-SaTJARE BORER. 



( VranotcH meJ'nms Hbn. Fig. 23.) 



History. — In the two brief economic accounts of this species already 

 published" it has been considered as an enemy of beans and hops, but 

 no reference to it as a pest of cotton has been found. Mally has 



recorded the similar habits 

 of Cahjcoj)/^ cecTopH Fab. 

 {Thecla pmts Hbn.),'' and 

 since then much of the injury 

 due to iii(Ahins has been re- 

 ferred to the latter species. 

 In Texas, although ceerops 

 is common, by far the largest 

 amount of damage is done 

 by melmus. 

 The records of the Bu- 



FiG. 23. — XJranotes melinus: a, dorsal view of butterfly; b. vpoii of EntomolofV 2'ive 



butterfly, with wings closed; r, larva from side; ri, pupa; i _c n • i j. 



f, egg— all somewhat enlarged, except e, greatly enlarged tbe lOllOWing Clata COncem- 



(all except r redrawn from Howard). il-,g ^hls Specics: A larva 



sent by C. V. Riley, September 1(5, 187S, taken feeding on cotton at 

 Augusta, (ra., was found to be parasitized by a species of Apanteles. 

 September 4, ISHU, a larva on cotton was received from Selma, Ala., 

 likewise parasitized. July 6, 1880, a larva was received from R. F. 

 Cooke, Marion, Ala., and parasites emerged the next day, seemingly 

 Apanteles theclee Riley. June 27, 1892, larvw taken on cotton were 

 sent by L. T. Sanders, from Plain Dealing, La. Under date of June 

 18, 1895, Mr. E. A. Schwarz, investigating the boll weevil, wrote 

 from San Diego, Tex. : 



My friends here have brought me during the last two days plenty of squares said 

 to be infested by the weevil, and I myself find others, but in every instance the 

 author of the mischief is the cotton Thecla, which at present is the only injurious 

 insect on cotton here. 



Mr. Schwarz sent larva^ of this species from various points in south 

 Texas in May and June. One larva was sent ))y him from Beeville. 

 Tex., October 22, 1895, and another one from Bergs Mill, Tex., 



"1895: Riley and Howard, Insect Life, Vol. VII, pp. 354-355; and 1902: Chit- 

 tenden, Bui. 33, n. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agric, pp. 101-102. 

 ''ISgS: Bui. 29, o. s., Div. Ent., U. S. Dept. Agric., pp. 29-30. 



