248 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



The Cotton Square-borer * 



Just as the cotton squares commence to form they are often 

 bored into by a small green caterpillar which many planters 

 consider a stage of the boll worm and which others have called 

 the " sharpshooter." This injury is often quite serious on a 

 small area, as we have seen 10 per cent of the stalks entirely 

 denuded of squares in small fields in Texas where this insect was 

 abundant. The little caterpillars hollow out the squares in the 

 same manner as does the bollworm, often destroying all of those 

 on a plant knee-high and even boring into the tender stalk. The 





FIG. 176. The cotton square-borer (Uranotes melinus Hbn.): a, adult; 

 b, underwing of same; c, larva; d, pupa natural size. (After Howard, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



caterpillars are bright green, oval, decidedly flattened, covered 

 with short hairs which give them a velvety appearance, and with 

 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. 176), of a bluish-black color, with dark red- 

 dish lustre, and with bright red spots on the posterior border 

 of the hind wings, common 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 larva? 

 have also been found on hops, beans and cow-peas, seeming to 



* Uranotes melinus Hbn. Family Lycanidce. 



