258 



SCHOOL ENTOMOLOGY 



the southern portion of the cotton belt. The moth is a 

 grayish-brown color with a wing expanse of about 1J inches. 

 The wings often have a purplish luster and are marked with 

 darker lines, as shown in Fig. 181. Early in the spring 

 they lay their eggs on volunteer cotton, as many as 500 eggs 

 being laid by one moth. The caterpillars feed greedily on 

 the tender foliage and become grown in from one to three 



FIG. 182. Cotton worms, natural size. (Photo by Dr. W. E. Hinds.) 



weeks. When grown they are 1| inches long, greenish, 

 striped with black and marked with numerous small black 

 dots. The mature caterpillar draws together the edges of a 

 leaf and within the fold spins a thin silken cocoon in which it 

 transforms to a pupa, from which the moth emerges in from 

 one to four weeks. 



Like most of the Noctuids the moths fly only after sun- 

 set, but unlike others their mouth-parts are so formed that 

 they are adapted to piercing the skin of ripe fruits and suck- 



