COTTON. 405 



one part of the plant to another in a manner quite characteristic. The fling or jump is made 

 by bending the fore and raised part of the body to one side and then suddenly jerking it to 

 the opposite side, relaxing meanwhile the three hind pairs of legs by which it held to the 

 plant. This is a quite common mode of motion when disturbed, and the normal way of 

 getting from one plant to another. The maximum distance which a worm can thus jump 

 in a horizontal direction is about two feet, and it almost invariably alights on its legs. During 

 chilly weather in autumn this motion is feeble and can be easily watched. When not feed 

 ing, the worm either rests stretched straight on some part of the plant, or may be seen sway 

 ing its fore-body from side to side, holding the while by the hind prolegs. 



Though preferring the foliage, it will, when hard pushed, eat every exposed part of the 

 plant, even barking and girdling the stems. In feeding on the bolls, however, it does not 

 bore like the boll-worm (Heliothis armigera), but eats the external parts as well as their 

 contents. It cannot thrive on any other plant than cotton, and is evidently confined in its 

 diet to the different species of the particular genus Gossypium. At all events, there is yet 

 no satisfactory evidence to the contrary, all experiments made confirming the belief. 



As one correspondent naively puts it, &quot; the worms feed only on cotton and one another,&quot; 

 the cannibalistic propensity being freely indulged; when the occasion presents. It is a com 

 mon remark that the presence of the worm is easier detected by smell than by sight. The 

 planter says that he can &quot;smell the worm.&quot; There is a peculiar ordor arising from the 

 excrement, but particularly from the gnawed and mutilated leaves, that gives rise to this 

 saying; but where the worms are numerous and large enough to render it obvious, there they 

 have already existed several days, perhaps weeks, in smaller numbers. 



When numerous enough to utterly defoliate a field before they have attained full growth, 

 the worms will travel in all directions on the ground, and they have been exceptionally 

 known to collect together and travel in vast bodies in their search for fresh food. 



The Chrysalis. Having obtained full growth, the worm, in the language of the planter, 

 &quot;webs up,&quot; forming for protection a more or less perfect cocoon, usually within the fold or 

 roll of a leaf, sparsely lined with silken meshes. Here it contracts and thickens, the distinc 

 tive marks are nearly obliterated, and the green color acquires a verdigris hue. Within 

 twenty-four hours in midsummer, the skin splits just back of the head and is gradually 

 worked to the end of the forming chrysalis, now soft and green, but acquiring in the course 

 of an hour or more a brown color and firmer consistence. This chrysalis state lasts, on an 

 average, about a week in hot weather, but may extend to thrice that time, with lower temper 

 ature. Where necessity obliges, the worm will spin upon any other plant, or in any situation 

 that offers shelter. 



In confinement, it will make a cocoon on the ground, covering and disguising the same 

 with particles of earth, or it will even transform on the ground without silk or shelter. Such 

 cases rarely, if ever, occur in a state of nature, but when the worms are very numerous in a 

 field, the chrysalides frequently have their leafy protection eaten away, so that many of them 

 either hang by the few hooks at the extremity, or fall to the ground. 



In no case, however, does the worm burrow in the ground as does the boll worm, or 

 could the moth issue from the chrysalis were the latter accidentally buried even an inch 

 beneath the surface. 



The Moth, or Imago. The moth measures from 1 to 1% inches from tip to tip of wings 

 when these are expanded. Its general color, above, is olivaceous, more or less effectually 

 subdued by lilaceous or purple hues, and often having a clay yellow or faintly golden cast. 

 The under side is more gray with nacreous reflections. 



The markings that more particularly characterize and distinguish it from other North 

 American moths are certain undulating vinous or carmine lines across the front wings, a 

 dark oval spot near their disc containing pale scales which usually form a double pupil (the 



