









Feeding period.—The active feeding period of the adult weevils is 
during the day. At night they travel and fly but very little. It has 
often been noted that a weevil observed in any particular square at 
sundown, is found within the identical square at sunrise unless dis- 
turbed during the night. During the vigorous growing season of — 
cotton the weevils go about from plant to plant by short sluggish 
flights. They prepare for flight by getting out upon some exposed — 
portion of the plant and then aimlessly fly in a direct line until another 
plant is struck. When cotton is knee high or more it usually happens 
that they fly only across to the next row before striking another plant, 
‘on which they alight. Their spread over the field is a slow process 
during this growing period of the cotton, and the egg-laying season 
of the weevil. 
Early in spring when the adults come out from winter quarters they 
are voracious eaters and feed readily on any young cotton to be found. 
They feed for the most part by getting up among the developing leaf 
buds between the seed leaves, into which they eat, just as they do the 
young squares later. In spring, before squares are formed on cotton, 
the weevils often eat a small hole into the tender growing portions of 
the stems or branches. They have a habit of eating into these some- 
what differently than when eating into a square under cover. It 
should be stated, by way of explanation, that the end of the stout, es 
slightly curved snout of the weevil is, provided with small, claw-like 
jaws, with which it actually eats a hole rather than bores it, as the ‘ 
popular notion is. When preparing to feed on any exposed portions 
of the plant, the weevil nearly always uses its sharp mandibles at the 
end of the snout to rasp the outer bark, so as to enable it to get hold 
of the ragged ends, which it then deliberately pulls off and lays to one 
side. After doing this it eats the tender portions underneath. This 
process is comparable to peeling an apple before eating it. This is 
not an invariable habit, but prevails in the majority of instances, and 
is important as bearing upon the methods of poisoning, to be discussed 
later on. As soon as squares are formed on the plants the weevils at 
once attack them and eat holes into them from behind the shelter of 
the involucre or ruffle. When hard pressed for squares to eat, small, 
and even large, bolls will be eaten into. 
Early in the spring the weevils are very active and feed freely and 
extensively. In the fall as the hibernating season approaches they 
become more sluggish and feed much more sparingly. In spring, too, 
when they are disturbed, they ‘* play possum” and drop off the plant 
readily. In the fall they take fright less easily, are slower to ‘* play 
possum,” and are less active in every way. 
It has not yet been definitely established that the boll weevil will 
feed upon any other plant than cotton. 
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