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LIFE-HISTORY AND HABITS. 



The life-cycle is as yet imperfectly kuown, but so far as can now be 

 judged is as follows: When the insects first appear the eggs are de])os- 

 ited in the squares and bolls, and the larv* hatch and feed on the 

 interior substance of the buds and bolls. The larvii^ sometimes feed 

 on the interior of the seed, leaving only the shell, but usually eat seed 

 or fiber indifferently. The larva gradually reaches full growth, having 

 by this time formed a cell of sufficient size to accommodate itself, and 

 in this it pupates. The cell is usually formed next the outer wall or 

 pericarp of the boll, so that the weevil, when transformed, has only to 

 make its way through this wall to escape. In issuing, it thus leaves a 

 small hole in the pericarp, which marks the cell in the infested lock of 

 the boll. As many as eleven larvie have been found in one boll. 



Judging from the habits of the allied species, Antlionomus signatus, 

 and allowing for differences in size and climatic conditions, the dura- 

 tion of the life-cycle is probably about thirty days. 



In the newly infested region in Texas, the weevils were first noticed 

 in the cotton fields from about the middle of August to the last of 

 September; in the newly infested region of Coahuila, a month earlier; 

 in the older infested regions of Texas (Brownsville) and Coahuila 

 (Hermanas), as early as May to June. Approximate dates of their 

 first appearance in newly infested regions have been received as 

 follows: Corpus Christi (Nueces region), middle of August; Beeville, 

 last of August and first of September; San Diego, first of September. 



Nothing is known positively concerning the number of annual 

 broods, but I think there is no doubt that there were two broods in the 

 newly infested region, and in the older districts, where the weevils 

 appear in May and June, there must be four or more broods annually. 



At San Juan Allende, Coahuila, two very small larviC were found in 

 buds, November 23, and at Alice, Tex., another was found in a green 

 bud, December 12. This seems to indicate a very late brood if, indeed, 

 the broods are at all regular. I am inclined to think that, egg-laying 

 goes on at all times, so that the broods are more or less irregular. 



Food plants and habits of feeding of the adult. — The only food plant 

 so far as known is cotton. The adults seem to feed both on the buds and 

 bolls, and throughout the season as long as the weather is warm. By 

 means of the small jaws at the end of its beak, the weevil eats through 

 the skin of the bud or boll, making a small hole therein. Specimens were 

 found as late as December 10, 36 miles north of Brownsville, with their 

 beaks sunk to full length in half-grown green bolls, apparently feeding 

 on the juices within. 



Extended inquiry, confirmed by my own observations, shows that the 

 weevils always remain within the squares or on the bolls, and never 

 feed on the leaves, nor are they ever seen on the latter. 



The weevils were found at San Tomas, and just north of Brownsville, 

 infesting fields of sea-island cotton as badly as the upland variety. 



