THE BOLL-WEEVIL PROBLEM. 



11 



in the fall, when all the fruit has become infested, several eggs mny l)c 

 placed hi a smgle square or boll. As many as 1 5 larv?e have been 

 found hi a boll. The squares are greatly preferred as food and as places 

 for depositing eggs. As long as a large supply of squares is present, 

 the bolls are not damaged to any serious extent. The bolls, therefore, 

 have a fair chance to develop as long as squares are bemg formed. 



The cotton boll weevil, so far as known at present, breeds m no 

 plants other than cotton and the -wild cotton of Arizona. This has 

 been determhied by planting various plants related to cotton m the 



Fig. 4— Cotton 



showing egg puncture nt boll weevil and "flaring" of bracts. Natural size. 



vicinity of or within mfested cotton fields and in cages in wliich 

 weevils were placed. It has been demonstrated, therefore, beyond 

 any doubt whatever that, at the present time at least, the insect is 

 restricted to the cotton plant as a means of development. 



In laboratory experiments performed by B. R. Coad, a weevil 

 developed in the bud of a wild plant related to cotton. Under 

 natural conditions it has not boon found developing in that plant, 

 but the experiments may inchoate a tendency for the insect to 

 acquire a new food plant. In tin adult stage the boll weevil fro- 



