50 



Insects often mistaken for the boll weevil — Continued. 



Scientific name. 



OTHER BEETLES. 



Monocrepidius vespertinus Fab 

 Notoxus monodon Fab 



Common name. 



Usual food plant. 



' Larva in grass roots 



Larva in ground 



Ataxia crypta Say \ Cotton-stalk borer I Cotton stalks 



Olibnis apicalis Mels ' _ Decaying bolls 



Carpo])h ilus hem ipterus Linn ' Develops in decaying bolls 



Carpophihis dhnidiatus Fab . . . j do 



Epurceu cestiva Linn ' _ _ ' do 



Cfl thartus gemellatus Duv Grain beetle I do 



Tribolium ferrugineum Fab ' Flour beetle Attacks seed 



Plate 

 figure. 



XVI, 70. 



XVI, 68. 



BUGS AND OTHER INSECTS. 



Homalodisca triquetra Fab ... 



Oncometopia undata Fab 



Dysdercus suturellus'KSch ... 



Sharpshooter 



Waved sharpshooter. 

 Cotton stainer 



Cotton stalks XVI, 65,66. 



do ! 



Cotton bolls IXVL 67. 



IS COTTON-SEED MEAL ATTRACTIVE? 

 LABORATORY OBSERVATIONS. 



On account of the popular impression that cotton-seed meal will 

 attraet weevils it has been necessary to conduct a rather full series of 

 experiments. To ascertain the possibility of using this substance as 

 an attractant for the weevil in field work three series of laboratory 

 tests were first made. The weevils used were obtained from the same 

 source in all tests. The first series was designed to test the ability of 

 the weevils to live upon cotton-seed meal alone as a food. The sec- 

 ond series was intended to show whether the weevils would prefer the 

 meal to cotton leaves as an indication of the possibility of attracting 

 hibernated weevils before the formation of squares in the spring. 

 The third series was planned to show whether the weevils would pre- 

 fer the meal as a food when squares could be easily found. The 

 cotton-seed meal used was obtained fresh from the oil mill and the 

 experiments started during the latter ijart of November. 



Weevils fed rather sparingly upon the meal in Series I. It did not 

 seem to agree with them as a food and thej^ showed no siDccial inclina- 

 tion to feed upon it. Twenty-three of the 24 weevils confined upon 

 meal alone died in from 2 to 13 days, showing an average length of 

 life of slightly over 6 days. These weevils either starved to death 

 rather than eat the cotton-seed meal or else they were not able to eat 

 it. The dry and empty bodies of all dead weevils showed that death 

 was caused by starvation and not \>y disease. Being entirely covered 

 with the fine meal did not seem to have any bad efi'ect upon them. 

 As weevils without food or water showed an average length of life 

 slightly over G days, agreeing exactly with the period in this test, it 

 appears that cotton-seed meal is not only not a food for the weevil, 

 but also that it is not capable of i)rolonging their lives to any appre- 

 ciable extent. 



