104 REPORT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



covered by leaves and other debris. Second, it might be carried into the gin-lionses 

 and covered with old seeds or refuse cotton, &c. 



The first case is very improbable, in my opinion, as the chrysalid would certainly be 

 killed by the mold, or the decay brought on by moisture. In regard to the second 

 case I must confess that I consider it very possible provided that Dr. Anderson's ob- 

 servation be correct. While in Hearne, I examined the refuse cotton of a gin-house, 

 and subsequently again near Canton, but without success. The possibility, however, 

 that the pupa could hibernate in such places cannot be denied. 



It is to be regretted that Professor Smith and Dr. Anderson do not reside in the 

 southern extremities of the cotton belt, as there is no question in my mind but that 

 A. argillacea spreads from there to the more northern portions every year; and that 

 the question of the hibernation of this insect can only be solved by patient observa- 

 tions in these southern bottom-lands. 



Professor Smith, whose house is well situated for observation, as his own cotton 

 field is close by, will certainly fail in finding the cotton-moth on his sugared trees, 

 although he is "baiting" his trees every warm evening. 



As a very good place for observations to be taken early in the spring, I would recom- 

 mend Columbus, Tex., or one of the other great bottom-lands of the State. In South- 

 ern Louisiana the bottom-lands, or rather the low alluvial lands, are exclusively 

 devoted to the cultivation of the sugar-cane. The Mississippi bottom-land in the 

 Louisiana cotton belt is not extensive enough for such observation. In the interior of 

 Louisiana and throughout Mississippi the true bottom-lands are not cultivated gener- 

 ally because they are subject to frequent overflows ; this, however, is not the case 

 with those in Texas. 



From Mobile, Mr. Schwarz proceeded to Tallahassee, Fla., by way of 

 Eufaula, Ala. In a letter of February 26, from the latter place, he says: 



I spent a whole day on Mr. Donovan's plantation in hunting for Aletia argillacea, 

 but with no success. Near the cotton field begins a very large thick hummock, where 

 a thorough investigation is altogether impossible. * * In order to go from 



Mobile to Florida I had to make a detour by way of Eufaula. At this place I had to 

 wait four days for the steamer. However, I was not sorry to be detained at Eufaula, 

 as cotton is most extensively planted in the vicinity of the place, and as I have found 

 here for the first time a locality where hiding places for hibernation of the moth are 

 comparatively scarce. I had thus an opportunity to make in two days a systematic 

 and thorough exploration of the broad valley of a little creek. In fact I looked every- 

 where except in the roofs of the houses. Moreover, several fields were just plowed, 

 and I had again occasion to convince myself that there are no pupae of A. argillacea 

 in the ground. I repeat here that I feel more than ever convinced that the insect 

 does not hibernate in these more northern portions of the cotton belt. 



In his first letter from Tallahassee, February 28, we find the follow- 

 ing : 



I would like to add that Dr. Anderson's assertion that he saw A. argillacea flying 

 during the warm spell in January is quite incorrect. The doctor, like Prof. 

 E. A. Smith and myself, as well as others, saw only other Noctuids flying about the 

 houses, and they almost exclusively belonged to a single very common species (I think 

 it is Boarmia), which I find everywhere, under bark, in cracks in fences, flying during 

 the warm hours of 'the day, at night, &c. Very often and in many places I heard the 

 opinion that Aletia argillacea hibernates as a moth, because it has been seen flying in 

 warm evenings during the winter ; but I have never found a man who actually knows 

 what Aletia argillacea is among the flying moths. 



In his second letter from Tallahassee, March 5, he writes as follows : 



After three months' traveling through cold and rain, I find here in Florida most 

 . glorious, warm weather, and during my stay in Tallahassee I did not lose a single day 



