LEAF-ROLLER. 



and binds it down with silken threads, living- safely within this 

 fold. As it grows larger, it binds more and more folds together, forming 

 a kind of nest of rolled leaf in which it feeds. In those varieties 

 of cotton with a large leaf, the whole or a great part of the leaf is 

 thus tied together and if the caterpillar eats much at the base, the leaf 

 withers. In the case of bhindi or of varieties of cotton with smaller, 

 divided leaves, the leaf may be simply eaten, not folded together into a 

 compact bunch. Especially is this the case in the smaller-leaved cottons, 

 where the caterpillar lives in the top leaves of each shoot and binds them 

 all together. These folded leaves are fairly characteristic of this insect and 

 if opened will be found to contain one or several caterpillars, with 

 a mass of black excrement in grains. [Another caterpillar (the 

 bud caterpillar No. 80) 

 lives only in the top leaves 

 of the shoot, binding 

 them into a very compact 

 mass, which withers and 

 turns dark ; one can readily 

 distinguish this by the 

 appearance of the cater- 

 pillar, of which only one 

 lives in each mass; it is 

 small, not more than half 

 an inch long, of a distinct 

 opaque dull green colour, 

 not shiny and transparent 

 as is this leaf-roller (see 

 page 99)]. 



The leaf -roller grows to a length of over one inch; it is slender, 

 the body transparent with a faint greenish tinge, and the dark contents 

 of the alimentary canal showing through the skin ; the legs are dark, 

 and easily seen, the sucker-feet long and slender. The head and neck are 

 dark brown and there are a few long slender hairs on each segment. 



After two to three weeks' life as a caterpillar, the last skin is shed 

 and the chrysalis is formed. This is shiny chestnut brown, with no legs 

 or means of locomotion, about half an inch in length. It lies among the 

 twisted leaves suspended by the threads made by the caterpillar, and is 

 easily found by untwisting the rolled-up leaves. It lies motionless for 

 eight days and then opens, the moth emerging. 



The moth is of a whitish colour, with a faint yellow tinge, the wings 

 with many fine dark lines, forming an irregular pattern. It is less than 



H 



FIG. 109. 

 Moth of Cotton Leaf-Roller. (Magnified.) 



