II. The Red Cotton Bug. 



THESE bright red insects are found throughout the plains 

 and feed upon cotton, bhindi, hollyhock and similar plants. 



They are found in all stages of their growth gathered to- 

 gether on green and open cotton bolls. They have long sharp 

 mouths by which they suck the juices out of the lint and seed 

 inside the boll. The damage is not noticed at the time, and the 

 cultivators believe these insects to be harmless-: but the loss 

 becomes apparent when the cotton is picked and ginned. The 

 bolls which are infested yield light seed which is of no value, 

 and bad lint which is both poor in quality and stained by 

 excreta. 



The bugs are large and conspicuous and a coolie boy can 

 clear them in a short time by sharply shaking the plants with 

 one hand so that the bugs are dislodged and fall into a balti con- 

 taining water and a thin layer of Kerosene which he holds in the 

 other hand. 



if this campaign is systematically carried in May and June, 

 when the bug is on bhindi, and in August and September, when 

 it is on cotton bolls, there need be no - loss from these insects. 

 Usually their destruction once a monHi is quite enough to keep 

 them in check. 



