19 
quently, however, the hole is bored about midway of the boll and passes 
straight in. As the worm thus feeds on the inside of the boll it may 
pass straight towards the apex, devouring only the section of the fruit 
which it has entered and then retreat, and attack another boll, or it 
may bore through the partition into a second section, devouring it, 
or the passage of the worm may be a slanting one from the first, in 
which case two or three sections may be entered before retreating. The 
worm seldom continues until it has destroyed all of the sections of the 
boll, though the remaining sections are usually made worthless by the 
decay which arises and spreads from the injured portions. 
The notion which some planters have that the worm eats in at one 
point on the boll and passes out at another is wrong, for if it ever does 
so it is certainly the exception. Occasionally, however, there are two 
holes in a boll similar to those which the Boll Worm makes and in- 
deed the Boil Worm has been the culprit. Observation, however, has 
proven that the Boll Wormoccasionally begins boring atone point, eats 
into it but ashort distance, retreats, and beginsa second hole at another 
point on the same boll. Sometimes, also, two worms are found attack- 
ing the same boll, which, when they have finished and left it, appears 
as if a worm had entered at one point and passed out at another. 
It is further believed by some that the Boll Worm travels only at 
night and feeds only late in the afternoon and evening. Concerning 
both it must be said that the worms avoid the extremely hot sunshiny 
part of the day, and prefer traveling and feeding during the cooler 
parts; but at the same time considerable range must be allowed for the 
whims of the worm, and other conditious which may arise to induce 
the worm to go from boll to boll during mid-day and often at high 
temperatures. As bearing on this it may be stated that often while 
making morning observations in the cotton fields worms were found 
in bolls. Without any disturbance these branches were marked so that 
they could be easily found for experimental purposes in the afternoon. 
In the afternoon it was always found that a number of worms had gone. 
to other bolls or even branches on the same plant. Occasionally, too, 
one would be found to hive left the plant entirely and could not be 
found. The changing of plants was not often done during the day, but 
was oftener found to be the case with those specimens which had been 
marked the preceding evening and were looked for the next day. The 
changing from boll to boll on the same plant may be frequently ob- 
served during the day. The time of day when the worms feed most 
vigorously is during the cooler portions cf the afternoon and evening 
and in the morning before the sun shines so hotly. 
After the killing frosts in late October and November the worms 
which had not yet matured were found to feed as best they could upon 
the berries of Solanum carolinense, and possibly, if forced to, would 
feed upon any other available green plant found in the cotton fields. 
Extensive observations on this point could not be made, since the worms 
