68 



THE AMEklCAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



generally turns its head downward, and 

 when it rests, the wings are but shallowly 

 roofed, the front ones closed along tlie back 

 and fully hiding the hind ones. In this re- 

 spect it may always be distinguished from 

 the parent of the Boll Worm, which rests 

 with the front wings partly o[)en and not 

 entirely covering the hind ones. 



The female begins to lay her eggs in 

 from two to four days after issuing from 

 the chrysalis, the time varying with the 

 different generations and according to 

 temperature. 



In exi)eriments which I have made with 

 moths confined in vivaria, eggs have some- 

 times been laid thirty-six hours after issu- 

 ing, and the moths have continued laying 

 for twenty-one nights, the number laid each 

 night ranging from 4 to 45. 



[FiK. SO. 



Cotton Moth : a, in;ilc abdomen ; f>^ fi;in;ilc do. — ciiluij^cd 

 (after Riley). 



Examination of the ovaries of females 

 at different seasons shows a much greater 

 prolificacy than belongs to most moths, as 

 the number of well-developed ova may 

 reach 500, and of potential ova half as 

 many more. In confinement it is difficult 

 to obtain from one female more than 300 

 eggs, but that fully double this number are 

 produced in the field during the height of 

 the season there can be little doubt, while 

 the average number may be estimated at 

 about 400. 



The natural food of the motli, as first 

 shown by me in the fall of 1878,* is the 

 sweet exudation from the glands upon the 



midrid of the leaf and at tlie base of each 

 lobe of the involucre of the cotton plant. 

 Nevertheless it is attracted to all kinds of 

 sweets, and in most i)arts of the South it 

 finds a bountiful supply in the exudation 

 from the s[)ikes of Paspalum here, a toler- 

 ably common grass, hut particularly in that 

 copiously secreted by glands at the apex of 

 the peduncle, just above the pods of the 

 Cow-pea {Dolichos). In the spring of the 

 year, as Judge Bailey of Marion, Ala., 

 has observed, it may often be seen in the 

 evening feeding in numbers, first from the 

 blossoms of the Chicasaw plum, and sub- 

 secjuently from those of the peach, Chinese 

 quince, mock orange {Ccrasus carotinensis), 

 the early apples, and lilackthorn. Later in 

 the season, when the glands above men- 

 tioned begin to exude and the tree blos- 

 soms are no more, the moths do not seem 

 to be attracted by other nectar-storing 

 flowers, since observations during the past 

 two years by myself and assistants have 

 resulted in finding but one species of ver- 

 bena ( Verbena aubletia L.) frequented, even 

 where both moths and all sorts of flowers 

 were abundant. But fruits of all kinds 

 as they ripen are resorted to, and figs, 

 apples, peaches, plums, apricots, grapes, 

 ])ersimnions, and even melons are often 

 greatly injured. 



Carefully examined, the tongue is seen 

 to be armed along its terminal half with 

 stout and sharp spines projecting forward 

 from the upper surface and increasing in 

 density toward the tip, which is beset with 

 them on all sides. It is by means of this 

 spinous tip of the tongue that the moth 

 works a hole in these fruits, and is thus 

 enabled to absorb the more licjuid portions. 

 ,\p])le pomace is especially attractive to 

 them. 



*S,k:c Atlanta (Oa.) C(I«j/iVk/i««, September 30, .iiul Scien- 

 tijii: American^ November 10, 1878. 



As illustrating the remarkable tenacity 

 of life possessed by some Snout-beetles, 

 Mr. C. O. Waterhouse of London, mentions 

 that a Curculionid (genus Cleonus) after 

 resisting the action of Laurel-leaves, was 

 twice immersed in benzine, the second time 

 for one whole night, and finally had to be 

 killed by hot water. 



