352 REPORT UPON COTTON INSECTS. 



tations near Savannah I fonnd that the worm was first noticed the current year on 

 September 4. I found a large number of chrysalides yet on the plant on November 

 10 to 25. The nights were frosty and the leaf withered and scant. In places shel- 

 tered by trees the leaf was still green, and here I found (November 16) a few cater- 

 pillars not yet spun up. A large number of the chrysalides were empty ; about 40 

 per cent, contained the parasites, the most numerous of which were pupae of Pimpla 

 conquisitor. There were also a number of Tachina larvae noticed. Less than a quarter 

 of the chrysalides contained the undeveloped moth. 



I carefully searched the stems without finding any eggs of the moth. An examina- 

 tion of the woods, logs, and brushwood yielded no chrysalides of the cotton-worm. 

 From the appearance of the chrysalides on the plants it must be conceded that the last 

 worms do not quit the plant nor prepare themselves for winter in any way. In my 

 opinion the chrysalides which do not yield the moth and are retarded by the severity of 

 the weather cannot conceal themselves in any way in the ground, and must probably 

 perish from the cold or in the process of removing the dead plants to prepare for a 

 fresh crop of cotton. 



Under your instructions I visited the Georgia sea islands during the end of Novem- 

 ber and beginning of December. I found that the worm had appeared this year in 

 September, as on the mainland, but later in the month. It had also not spread, and 

 had attacked certain corners of the fields, where I now found the chrysalides. None of 

 these contained undeveloped moths ; they were either empty or ichneumouized. There 

 had been no second brood of the worm on the islands, according to testimony collected 

 by me, and which was borne out by my own observations. 



I returned to Washington in December, reporting to yon my observations, and hav- 



ing previously mailed to you specimens collected by me. On this trip I found the case 

 of what is probably a large Oiketicus. The presence of this genus in the United States 

 is indicated by Abbott, in Harris's Correspondence, edited by Mr. S. H. Scndder. I 



had previously examined the Cuban species 0. Pocyi, but until now had never met any 

 species in our American collections outside of the West Indies. The specimen was 

 fastened to the main stem, near the top, of a cotton-plant, on a plantation near Savan- 

 nah. It was duly mailed to you, and if it is reared will be interesting from a scien- 

 tific point of view. 



As the result of my late observations I may say that the fact, I think first announced 

 by myself, is confirmed that the "cotton- worm" passes the winter, when it survives 

 at all, as a moth, and that the last fall worms do not leave the plant to web up. The 

 full history of the worm in Georgia can be made out when the country is fully explored 

 in the spring, and before the first appearance of the worm in numbers. It will then 

 be made clear where the first large numbers of the worm come from ; whether they 

 are the results of fresh invasions of the moth, or are the product of a first generation 

 from eggs of hibernating individuals. In the mean time my present and former obser- 

 vations go to prove that the successful hibernation of the moth is not accomplished in 

 all localities of the cotton-growing States, and that there is a general dispersion of the 

 insect in the moth stage from south to north. 



Under your intelligent supervision of the inquiry and with the facilities which you 

 possess from different sections of the South, I have no doubt that this important matter 

 will receive final and full elucidation. 



My thanks are due to Mr. Y. Rauers, of Saint Catharine's Island ; Dr. W. S.Lawton, 

 of Savannah ; Messrs. T. G. Hall, of Macon, Ga. ; J. E. Redwine, Hull County, Georgia ; 

 E. C. Grier, Griswoldville, Jones County ; Y. Pinckney Thomas, Waynes Bluff, Burke 

 County, Georgia ; State Geologist George A. Little, of Atlanta, Ga. ; and others who 

 have assisted me in my work. 

 Yours, respectfully, 



A. R. GROTE. 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



REPORT OF E. H. ANDERSON, M. D., OF KIRKWOOD, MISS. 



SIR : I herewith have the honor to make my general report, summarizing my ob- 

 servations upon Aletia during the past season. It would be a mere repetition, and 

 therefore a work of supererogation, to enter into any description of the insect, either 

 as moth or larva, as this has been already well done by expert entomological observ- 

 ers, and I shall confine my remarks to a few of its features more intimately concerned 

 in its propagation. 



Owing to highly-favoring atmospheric conditions, the insect was to be fonnd through- 

 out this cotton-belt, but, as usual, infested and ravaged certain portions to a much 

 greater extent than others. Its history and mode of operation in my immediate local- 

 ity would furnish a synopsis of its operations everywhere, as all the laws under which 



