INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON 



233 



the head retracted under the front of the body, thus being quite 

 unlike any stage of the bollworm. They are the larvae of a dainty 

 little butterfly (Fig. 194), 

 of a bluish-black color, 

 with dark reddish lustre, 

 and with bright red spots 

 on the posterior border 

 of the hind wings, com- 

 mon around cotton-fields. 

 The small yellowish, 

 transparent eggs are laid 

 on the leaves and stems 

 of cotton, cow-peas, goat- 

 weed, and various weeds, 

 and the larvae have also 



* 



square-borer ( Uranotcs 

 adult; 6, underwing of 



same ; c, larva ; d, pupa natural size. (After 



Howard, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



been found on hops, beans and cow-peas, seeming to prefer the 

 latter to cotton. The eggs hatch in from two to five days, the 

 larvae become grown in a little over two weeks, and the pupal 



stage averages about 

 ten days, so that the 

 whole life cycle re- 

 quires about a month 

 in Central Texas, 

 where there are three 

 or four generations in 

 a season. 



Fortunately for the 

 planter the large ma- 

 jority of the caterpil- 

 lars are parasitized, 

 over 90 per cent of 

 the June generation 

 having been thus 

 destroyed. 



Usually, therefore, 



it is hardly worth while 



stage of nymph at right, young nymph below , , , u 



-all enlarged. (Author's illustration, U. S. to attempt to combat 

 Dept. Agr.) this insect, as it is not 



FIG. 195. The glassy-winged sharpshooter (Ho- 

 malodisa triquetra Fab.): adult at left, last 



