298 REPORT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



Aletia. In color also it differs from the egg of Aletia, the latter being 

 of a delicate green, scarcely distinguishable from the leaf, while the 



former is nearly white and easily detected upon the 

 + plant. A noticeable feature of many of these eggs 



is an irregular reddish-brown band near their sum- 

 FIG. 76. Egg of boll- mits, which gradually disappears with the devel- 

 worm moth. O pment of the embryo. The sculpturing of the egg 

 is almost identical with that of the cotton-worm moth. The number of 

 eggs laid by the female HellotUs must approximate pretty closely to that 

 laid by the female Aletia. According to Mr. Glover, a single female 

 boll-worm moth dissected by Dr. John Gamble, contained upwards of 

 500 eggs. From their greater thickness, this number of eggs would nec- 

 essarily take up more room than the same number of Aletia eggs, and 

 hence Ave find that the female Heliotliis is more robust than the Aletia. 



From all accounts, the favorite ovi-positiug time is at or shortly after 

 twilight, when the moths are flying in great numbers. Concerning the 

 place of deposit of the eggs, however, published accounts have differed. 

 Mr. Glover says : 



The egg is generally deposited singly on the outside of the involucel or outer calyx 

 of the flower or young boll, where it adheres by means of a gummy substance which 

 surrounds the egg when first laid, and which hardens by exposure to the atmosphere. 

 It has been repeatedly stated by planters that tho egg was deposited on the stem, and 

 that the young stem forms the first food of the newly-hatched caterpillar; but after a 

 careful examination of several hundred stems I found only one egg placed in this situ- 

 ation, and that from the fact of its being laid on its side instead of the base, had evi- 

 dently been misplaced. 



Professor Riley, in his Third Missouri Entomological Eeport follows 

 Mr. Glover quite exactly, saying: " It is usually deposited singly on the 

 outside of the involucre or outer calyx or young boll." 



Observations made during the past two years would seem to disprove 

 this statement of Mr. Glover's pretty effectually. I found it to be the 

 exception that the eggs are laid upon the involucre. Although I have 

 found them upon all parts of the plant, the majority of them seem to be 

 deposited upon the lower surface of the leaves, as is the case with the 

 cotton-worm eggs. I made a careful search of many plants while in the 

 cotton fields of Alabama, and the following note will serve to indicate 

 the usual distribution of the eggs. " On one plant I found eleven eggs 

 which were distributed in the following manner : one on the involucre, 

 two on the stalks and eight on the leaves." Mr. Trelease states in his 

 report that he found them upon the petioles and both surfaces of the 

 leaves, and upon the outer surface of the involucre, and in a letter re- 

 marks : 



I have found them upon the Tipper and lower surfaces of the leaves, and rarely upon 

 the involucre. So far I have seen them nowhere else, and find that quite a percentage 

 is laid upon the upper surface of the leaf. 



The duration of the egg state varies with the season of the year, much 

 as it does with the egg of the cotton-moth. We have no data as to the 



