COTTON 187 



the smaller bolls and the flower buds to the young 

 and immature worms. 



After living thus for two or three (and some- 

 times even for four) weeks, the larva reaches its 

 full growth, and now, weary of the world in this 

 form, it seeks some place for rest and change. It 

 finds this in the very soil out of which the plant 

 comes and upon which it is fed. It enters the 



f round, and out of earth it welds an oval cell, and 

 ere remains from a week to a month. At the end 

 of its pupa life, it appears as a moth, varied in its 

 markings and somewhat stout in body. Its dress 

 is bright in color, shading from a dull yellow to an 

 olive green. 



An active little creature, we find it darting here 

 and there, but usually seeking the night time for 

 exercise, food and work. Whether it thinks it 

 safer to appear at this time or whether it is some- 

 what ashamed of its deeds, does not appear; still we 

 know it hides among the clover and the grass during 

 the day, and with the approach of darkness comes 

 out of its seclusion to find food and a place to 

 deposit its eggs. 



Unlike the two insects previously described, the 

 moth seeks sweeter feeding-grounds and more 

 appetizing foods, such as the honey found in the 

 blossoms of the cowpea, the clovers, and other 

 nectar-secreting plants. 



THE SEASON'S POPULATION 



A single female deposits something like 500 eggs 

 at a time. The average time occupied in the various 

 changes from the egg to the adult state of the moth 

 is from thirty-five to forty days; and since the first 

 appearance is about the last of April or the first of 



