363 



the insect attackinrj full-orown green bolls as late as December. Only 

 a few of the smallest bolls, when attacked, drop off; and. this is the 

 case, nsnally, only in the early part of the season. Even bnds, when 

 attacked, often remain on the stalk withont dropping. Mr. Townsend 

 has picked hnndreds of full-grown bolls and dead bolls from the stalks, 

 which contained weevils — sometimes as many as eleven in a single boll. 

 At the end of March, in the vicinity of Brownsville, there were 

 quantities of infested dead and dry bolls still hanging firmly on the 

 dead and dry last year's stalks; and Mr. Townsend found the larvte of 

 weevils in such bolls long after the February snow, and as late as 

 March 24. 



Popular Names. — The matter of populiir names, referred to in a para- 

 graph above, is a most difficult one to handle ; and the genesis of popular 

 names is always interesting. For many years entomologists have been 

 in the habit of proposing popular names for insects, and in proposing 

 these names an attempt has naturally been made to avoid duplication 

 and the consequent confusion. Field naturalists in general have shown 

 a certain contempt for these proposals, which they designate "book" 

 names, and this attitude has been shared by some jiractical men, farm- 

 ers among the rest. This has been largely due to the absurd character 

 of many of the popular names so proposed; but after all, what is one 

 to do ? 



It is nearly always impossible to trace the origin of a popular name 

 which grows up among the people. It is rarely specifically distinctive, 

 but it is catchy, frequently phonetic, and more or less descriptive. The 

 names in use among the people should always be adopted by entomo- 

 logical writers, unless the jirobability of serious confusion should exist. 

 Where the insect comes into prominence for the first time an attempt 

 should be made to suggest a catchy, descriptive popular title, which 

 will cause no confusion. Such a name will be readily and generally 

 adopted, whereas if a bookish name (like those, for instance, commonly 

 in vogue among collectors of Lepidoptera in England) be selected, it 

 will not be taken up by the people, and some other name may come into 

 use which may be far worse, on account of its preoccupation by some 

 other insect, either of the same general region or of some other part of 

 the country. The " gypsy moth," for example, is a book name, but it is 

 short, and easily remembered, and readily came into popular use. The 

 "red-humped prominent," however, or the "Brighton wainscot," or the 

 "Pigmy Footman," are examples of a class of names to be avoided. 

 They convey no idea to the ordinary individual, and are bookish to the 

 last degree. 



Where the scientific generic name of an insect is short and euphoni- 

 ous, experience has shown that it will be gradually adopted. We have 

 many such examples in botany, such as Geranium, Magnolia, Gladiolus, 



