ENTOMOLOGY 239 



seldom seriously damaged by this insect. Often a single worm will 

 practically destroy several large bolls, and one instance is on record 

 where 18 young bolls and many blooms and unopened flower buds 

 have been destroyed by one not fully grown worm. The bollworm is 

 not only a voracious plant feeder, but it is also a cannibal. Older 

 worms feed upon younger ones, and it has often been known to 

 eat the chrysalids of the cotton caterpillar. With an abundance of 

 vegetable food at hand, the larger worms will seize upon their small 

 brothers, biting through the skin and feeding upon the juices of 

 the body. In ears of corn the remains of several young worms are 

 often found, while the strong, large worm which has destroyed 

 them is the only living occupant of the ear. The larva occupies 

 from two weeks to a month in reaching full growth. 



Unlike the cotton caterpillar, the bollworm enters the ground 

 in order to transform. It forms an oval cell composed of particles of 

 earth held together by a loose, gummy silk, or the pupa may be 

 perfectly naked. It is of a light mahogany color, darker toward 

 the head, and the duration of this state is from one to four weeks. 



The adult insect of the boll worm is a moth about the size of the 

 cotton-worm moth, but has a stouter body and is more extensively 

 marked, as well as more variable in its markings. Its general color 

 varies from a dull ocher-yellow to a dull olive-green. The fore wings 

 have a rather dark band near the tip and the hind wings are also 

 bordered with a darker band. The wing veins are lined with black 

 and the fore wings have also several dark spots. There is great varia- 

 tion in these markings, and they are intensified in some individuals 

 and almost lacking in others. W' nn the moth is at rest, the fore 

 wings are slightly open, whereas in the cotton-worm moth they are 

 closed in a roof-shaped manner. The moth flies normally about 

 dusk, lays about 500 eggs, and is not a fruit feeder like the cotton- 

 worm moth. During the day they hide in cowpeas and in clover, 

 when these grow near the cotton field, and fly low with a quick dart- 

 ing motion when disturbed. About sunset tney begin to feed upon 

 the honey secreted by the cowpea and blossoms of clover, as well as 

 upon the nectar of the cotton plant and other honey-secreting plants. 



The average time occupied by the insect in its transformations 

 from egg to the adult is about thirty-eight days. The number of 

 annual generations is about five. They feed upon corn by prefer- 

 ence until this becomes too hard to be readily eaten. The fifth gen- 

 eration makes its appearance about the middle of September, and 

 about the middle of October, or even earlier, the caterpillars enter 

 the ground for transformation to pupee. The bulk of the bollw r orms 

 hibernate in the pupa state underground. (F. B. 47.) 



How to Control the Bollworm,. The methods outlined for tho 

 boll weevil also include two of the most important measures against 

 the bollworm, namely, fall plowing and securing an early crop of 

 cotton. In this case fall plowing is very important, since it breaks 

 up the earthen cells of the pupae, which are the tender age of the 

 insect, and exposes these forms to the winter weather which they 

 are not used to. They con not stand this change in conditions, 



