RED SPIDER ON COTTON. if 
midsummer, so that infestation from this weed to cotton is usually 
noticed later than from violets or spring weeds. 
It has been found that adult females are able to travel over smooth 
surfaces at the rate of about 5 inches per minute, or 600 feet in 24 
hours. When forced to migrate through the scarcity of proper food, 
they commonly take to the ground and travel to other plants. During 
heavy rains many red spiders are dashed to the ground and carried 
considerable distances in the surface water, whereupon those not 
killed establish themselves on the plants that are near by. Heavy 
winds also at times blow them from place to place. When the 
injury becomes severe in a portion of a field it is common for the 
red spider to spread directly from plant 
to plant by means of the interweaving 
branches. 
PLANTS ATTACKED. 
The red spider has been found breed- 
ing on nearly 200 species of plants, in- 
cluding weeds, ornamental plants, and 
garden and field crops. The following 
list of food plants, arranged in the 
order of their susceptibility to red- 
spider attack in the cotton belt, in- I. eee BBO WANS Ow 
cludes those most commonly infested: ese Serenace ORE aA 
Cotton, cultivated violet, sow thistle, lunes RS te em oe toe 
hollyhock, dahlia, garden beans, corn, yard. This diaeram is'typical of 
tomato, onion, carnation, sweet pea, many cases found during 1911. 
hedge nettle, nasturtium, morning- pie 
glory, clover, wild vetch, ironweed, Jerusalem oak, wild geranium, 
evening primrose, pokeweed, and strawberry. 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
The red spider on cotton is attacked by over 30 predaceous enemies, 
which render valuable assistance in its control. Of these, 5 are mites, 
3 are thrips, 4 are bugs, 4 are lacewing flies, 2 are midges, 4 are 
syrphid flies, 8 are lady beetles, and 1 is a caterpillar 
REMEDIES FOR THE RED SPIDER. 
PREVENTIVE MEASURES. 
The solution of the red-spider problem must be accomplished 
through preventive efforts rather than curative, if it is to be done 
with economy. The location of the mites through the winter and 
spring, their rapid development on a few wild and cultivated plants, 
