REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST, 271 



series of glands situated near the end of the peduncle which is produced 

 beyond the last flower or pod. Tlie moths were not at all shy, but would 

 remain engrossed in partaking of tlicir repast even when the lantern was 

 brought within a few inches of them. In no instance v;ere the moths 

 seen to visit the flower of the pea. 



It is probable that the cotton-moth feeds upon nectar excreted by many 

 other plants. Mr. irrelcase observed it feeding at the ovate glands which 

 are situated at the base of the petiole of the larger coifee weed [Cassia 

 Gccidentalis), at the glands on the flower stalks of the cow-pea, and he 

 frequently noticed that when the moths were numerous they collected 

 among sweet-potato vines, where they appear to have been attracted by 

 the nectar secreted by two small glands on the petiole of each leaf, near 

 the insertion of the blade. 



The subject of extra floral nectar glands is very interesting; and it is 

 one which has been studied but little. The problems presented by it are 

 quite puzzling. In the case of the nectar glands of flowers we have 

 organs which, serving to attract bees and other insects, and thus insur- 

 ing cross-fertilization, are very useful to the plant. But the functions 

 which extra floral nectar glands perform are seldom as obvious. In case 

 of the cotton plant these glands serve to attract the moths and thus in- 

 sure the oviposition of Gggs^ upon it. Thus the plant upon which the 

 glands are the most active will prove most attractive to the moths, and 

 hence will be the one the most likely to be infested by worms. There- 

 fore, instead of being beueflcial, as we know the floral nectar glands to 

 be, the extra floral glands seem at first sight to be injurious to the plant. 



It was not until we learned that the small ants, so abundant in cotton 

 fields and which are attracted to the ])lants bythese glands, are the most 

 efficient check upon the increase of cotton-worms that we- understood 

 how beneficial these glands really are. For, although the moths, led by 

 instinct to oviposit only upon the foo<l plant of their young, would visit 

 the cotton plants even if the glands were not present, it is not improb- 

 able that the ants are first attracted to the plants by the supply of nec- 

 tar which they find there, and as this nectar is secreted by the very 

 young plants the ants doubtless begin the destruction of cotton-worms 

 as soon as they appear. The statement of Professor Eiley that " these 

 sweets are first produced when the plant begins to flower and fruit" 

 {Annual Report Department of Agriculture, 187S, p. 215), was merely a 

 conjecture which subsequent observations failed to confirm.. In reality, 

 glands were found on some cotyledons; these, however, did not seem to 

 secrete nectar; but the gland on the first leaf begins to secrete nectar 

 (as indicated by the first visits of ants) about the time that the third or 

 fourth leaf expands.* 



The cotton-moth is not confined to a diet of nectar, as many fruit- 

 growers have learned to their cost. Frequently the fig crop is completely 

 destroyed in some sections of the cotton belt, as is also the August crop 

 of peaches. The moths have also been known to feed on apples, grapes, 

 melons, and the jujube. A remarkable instance of their feeding on 

 melons in Wisconsin was communicated to Professor Kiley last year by 

 Dr. P. E. Hoy, of Racine, Wis. 



Recently, at my request, Dr. Hoy sent to this department a specimen 

 of a melon-eating moth, and it proves to bewithoutdoubt/l/67<« argilla- 

 cea. Dr. Hoy's observations are very interesting, not merely as illustrat- 

 ing another mode in which this pernicious pest may be the source of 



*TLe bearing of tliiK subject of iiect.ir npou tlio subject of the euemiesof tLe cottou 

 plant is so iuiportrmt that we requi'stetl Mr. Tie lease to prox>are a pai»er upou it, \Ybit;b 

 will be found in tbe special report. 



