SECTION LVII THE COTTON-BOLL WEEVIL 



The United States produce about eighty per cent of 

 the world's supply of cotton. The state of Texas has for 

 years grown about one third of this amount. Cotton 

 alone yields annually to that great state over one hun- 

 dred million dollars. Therefore anything that lessens or 

 ^ ==s=a== ^__^_^ =raB!!aMMMM!MBi destroys this yield is a mat- 

 ter of serious concern not 

 only to Texas but also to 

 the whole country. 



Recently an insect that 

 gravely threatens the loss 

 of this entire crop has 

 made its appearance in the 

 fields of Texas. This insect 

 is the boll weevil. For the 

 past few years this insect 

 has annually destroyed for 

 the growers of Texas an 

 amount of cotton worth ten 

 million dollars. Including 

 the loss inflicted upon ginners, manufacturers, and other 

 allied industries, the total loss has probably amounted to 

 one hundred million dollars. 



So far as known, this insect, whose native home is the 

 tropics, made its first serious appearance in Mexico. In 



298 



FIG. 256. ADULT WEEVIL 

 (Enlarged) 



After Sanderson, Bulletin of Texas 

 Experiment Station 



