THE BOLLWORM OR CORN EARWORMJ 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Character of injury 4 



Ilaliits of th(^ iusoct and how it develops 6 



Seasonal history and relation of abundance to crop growth 8 



Control measures 8 



COTTON BOLLWORM, corn earworm, tomato fniitwoim, and 

 false budworm of tobacco are common names applied to one 

 and the same insect when it is found attacking these various crops. 

 In fact the insect is a very general feeder, attacking many wild 

 plants as well as garden vegetables, alfalfa, cowpeas, and the crops 

 indicated above. 



The bollworm, or corn earworm as it is most widely known, occurs 

 as a pest in practically all parts of the United States. The corn 



crop is widely af- ^ 



fected, and the loss ol T'^kan"' S 

 to this crop, includ- 

 ing sweet corn, ex- 

 ceeds the damage to 

 any other single 

 crop. This was esti- 

 mated in 1905 to be 

 about $18,000,000 

 annually, and in the 

 absence of the later 

 statistics it is safe 

 to assume that the annual losses at the present time greatly exceed 

 this amount. The loss to cotton raisers on account of its depreda- 

 tions was placed at $8,500,000 each year. This injury to cotton is 

 most severe in parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, 

 Mississippi, and Alabama-. (See fig. 1.) The total annual tax 

 of this insect on the farmer can be conservatively placed at nearlv 

 $30,000,000. Despite these startling figures, the fact that the insect 

 has been present as a pest in this countrj^ for many years has caused 

 most farmers to become tolerant of it. Under the present stress 



1 Known scientifically as Chloridea ohsoleta Fab. ; order Lepidoptera, family Noctuldae. 

 2344°— 17— Bull. 872 3 



-Map showing approximately the area in which the 

 bollworm inflicts severe injury on cotton. 



