13 
cotton plant for food. When confined in bottles, the weevil will par- 
take of various substances, such as apples or bananas; but this is only 
under the stress of starvation. Under natural conditions they would 
pay no attention to these substances. 
The boll weevil is strictly diurnal in its habits. Repeated obserya- 
tions made in the field at night have shown that it is not active after 
sundown. Unlike some related insects, it is not attracted to lights. 
The fact that somewhat similar species do come to lights in great 
numbers at times has frequently caused unfortunate confusion. 
An interesting habit of the boll weevil is to feign death; that is, to 
“ play possum ” or “ sull,” as it is popularly called. When disturbed, 
the insects generally contract their limbs and drop to the ground. 
This habit is not equally strong in all individuals. It has been taken 
into consideration in plans of control, as will be described beyend. 
The age to which weevils live varies under different conditions. 
During the winter the longevity is much greater than in the summer. 
During the summer season the majority of weevils do not live longer 
than 60 days. During the cooler part of the year many of them live 
as long as 6 months. The longest-lived weevil on record lived from 
December 10 to the following October, a period of about eleven 
months. Undoubtedly such prolonged life is exceptional. 
HIBERNATION. 
As has been pointed out, the boll weevil passes the winter in the 
adult stage. In the fall when frosts occur, immature stages may be 
found in the squares or bolls. Provided the food supply is sufficient, 
many of these immature stages continue their development at a very 
slow rate and adults finally emerge. Thus there may be a somewhat 
continuous production of adults during the winter. Ordinarily, how- 
ever, this is not conspicuously the case, since the frosts that destroy 
the cotton generally kill practically all of the immature stages of the 
weevil. 
With the advent of cool weather in the fall the adult boll weevils 
in cotton fields begin to seek protection against the winter. They fly 
from the fields in every direction, although their movements are gov- 
erned partially by the prevailing winds. They may fly into hedges, 
woods, cornfields, haystacks, farm buildings, or other places. Speci- 
mens have been found in such situations, and also in considerable 
numbers in Spanish moss growing from trees some distance above 
the ground. A number of weevils also obtain hibernating quarters 
without leaving the cotton fields. These may crawl into cracks in the 
ground under grass, weeds, and other trash, and into the burrs from 
which the cotton has been picked. In some cases several thousand 
weevils per acre have been found hibernating in such situations. 
Here, however, the mortality is greater than where the protection is 
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