BOLL-WORM VS. COTTON FLOWERS. 301 



amount of damage, proceeding from bud to bud or from boll to boll. Mr. 

 Glover says : 



The pistils and stamens of the open flower are frequently found to be distorted and 

 injured without any apparent cause. This has been done by the young boll-worm. 

 When hidden in the unopen bud, it has eaten one side only of the pistil and stamens, 

 so that when the flower is open the parts injured are distorted and maimed, and very 

 frequently the young flower falls without forming any boll whatever. In many cases, 

 however, the young wo rin bores through the bottom of the flower into the immature 

 boll before the old flower falls, thus leaving the boll and involucre, or envelope, still 

 adhering to the foot-stalk, and the worm safely lodged in the growing boll. The 

 number of buds destroyed by this worm is very great, as they fall off when quite small, 

 and are scarcely observed as they lie brown and withering on the ground beneath the 

 plant. The instinct of the boll-worm, however, teaches it to forsake a bud or boll 

 about to fall, and either to seek another healthy boll or to fasten itself to a leaf, on 

 which it remains until it has shed its skin, when it attacks another boll in a similar 

 manner, until at length it acquires size and strength sufficient to enable it to bore 

 into a nearly matured boll, the interior of which is entirely destroyed by its attacks, 

 as, should it not be completely devoured, rain penetrates through the hole made by the 

 worm and the cotton soon becomes rotted and will not ripen. These rotted bolls serve 

 also as food or shelter for numerous small insects. One thing is worthy of observation, 

 and that is, whenever a young bud or boll is seen with the involucre or outer calyx 

 (by some called the " ruffle") spread open, and of a sickly yellow color, it may be 

 safely concluded that it has been attacked by the boll-worm and will soon perish 

 ish and fall to the ground. When the bolls are older they remain adhering to the 

 plant. If many of these " forms" or buds lying on the ground are closely examined, 

 the greater portion of them will be found to have been previously pierced by the boll- 

 worm ; some few exceptions may, however, have been caused by the minute punctures 

 of plant bugs, by rains, or adverse atmospheric influences. The buds injured by the 

 worm may be readily distinguished by a minute hole where it has entered and which, 

 when cut open, will be found partially filled with small black grains, something like 

 coarse gunpowder, which is nothing but the digested food after having passed through 

 the body of the young worm. 



The destruction of the essential parts of the flower before the boll 

 proper is formed, which is spoken of in the quotation, is sometimes as 

 great a source of loss as the destruction of the maturing bolls. The two 

 following extracts from the notes of one of the observers bear upon the 

 point : 



August 1. Several Heliothis larvae found in opened white flowers, having perforated 

 the petals, and being engaged in eating the anthers and stigma. The larger ones had 

 eaten all but the staminal tube and the inclosed style and ovary, and even this tube 

 was pierced at the base. * * * 



August 4. Heliolhis larvae of a reddish tinge and 1 to 1.3 cm. in length are quite 

 abundant on boll-flowers and unopened buds. The latter they pierce, and thus cause 

 the involucre to flare and the bud to fall. The former are observed to have round 

 holes eaten in their petals, and in several cases the stamens were entirely eaten out. 



In one case, a nearly full-grown green larva was found in a flower through which it had 

 pierced near the base (calyx and corolla) a hole 4 mm. in diameter. Within, it had 

 eaten off stamens and stigma, leaving the stamiual tube and its inclosed style and ovary. 



It is quite a common sight to see these large green or pink worms in 

 the flower, as also the younger individuals, the latter, however, usually 

 having penetrated the bud and forced the premature blossom. 



As the boll- worms increase in size, a most wonderful diversity of color 

 and marking becomes apparent. In color, different individuals will vary 



