INSECTS AND BIRDS. 



275 



plants. Gradually the pest spread from its native ter- 

 ritory to various parts of Mexico. 



Invasion of the Cotton Belt. By the year 1892 the 

 boll weevil had reached the mouth of the Rio Grande 

 River, and commenced its invasion of Texas. From 

 Brownsville, Texas, it spread to the northward in 

 Texas, and in 1895 occurred as far north as San An- 



ADULT BOLL WEEVIL. 



tonio. Since then it has been spreading in every di- 

 rection until, at the present writing, practically all of 

 the states of'Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi 

 and Arkansas are infested. There is every probability 

 that it will spread to all parts of the Cotton Belt. 



Description. The boll weevil is a beetle, with a 

 hard body-covering. The adult is from one-eighth to 

 three-eighths of an inch in length, and is about one-third 

 as broad as it is long. The mouth-parts are extended 

 into a beak or " snout," which is about one-half as long 



