Some Special Injurious Insects 



167 



into the flower-bud ("stung," as it is sometimes 

 improperly called), the square or calyx is soon 

 "flared/' as shown in Fig. 105, and then drops to 

 the ground. In about twenty-five or thirty days from 

 the laying of the egg, the mature weevils emerge from 

 the fallen flower-buds and start a new generation. 

 Each female weevil, starting early in the season, may, 

 if conditions are favorable, 

 produce enough to destroy a 

 crop of cotton. The adult 

 weevils hibernate in winter in 

 the many unopened damaged 

 bolls or under any kind of trash 

 that may be available, espe- 

 cially in the leaves of nearby 

 woods. During the following 

 spring, they begin to emerge in 

 considerable numbers after the 

 first few weeks of warm weather. 

 They feed on the tender por- Fig 106 Late . fall boll> ghowing 



tlOnS Of the young COttOn. The how beetles hide between boll 



eggs are deposited in the first 



young flower-buds. In 1904, it was estimated that the 

 loss to Texas cotton -growers was equal to 450,000 

 bales, but, by using improved varieties of cotton, early 

 planting, distance between rows, and other measures, 

 a fair yield of cotton is now secured. More than thirty 

 species of birds are known to use the boll -weevil 

 as food. Ants, ichneumon flies, wasps and other agen- 

 cies assist man in his fight to keep this pest under 

 control. 



236. The Spread of the Boll- Weevil. Fig. 107 shows 

 the advances of this great pest since it was first dis- 



