ido 



PES-rS Ot 1 



COTTON PANT. 



FiG. 112. 



Cocoon of Cotton 



Bud Caterpillar, 



with adhering 



soil. 



brown. This pest is easy to recognise from the twisted leaves at the end 



of the shoot and their withered appearance. 



The caterpillar is a small opaque green one, with faint longitudinal 

 lines of brown pigment visible only when examined with 

 a lens. It feeds upon the cotton bud and on the leaves 



at the tip of the shoot, webbing these together with 

 threads. The small brown pupa is found within the 

 twisted leaves. The moth is less than half an inch long, 

 the antennae swollen beyond the basal joint, the palpi 

 upturned; the thorax and basal half of the wings are 

 grey, the apical half being darker. It flies in the dusk 

 and is not readily noticed. The caterpillar is found on 

 the cotton from August to November, after which it 

 hibernates. When abundant, the plant grows short and 



bushy, and in many cases the insect does good by effecting an even 



pruning. It is a pest only when abnormally abundant. 



Indigenous cottons similar to the Broach-Deshi, Goghari, etc., are 



attacked ; American and tree cottons appear 



to be immune. The pest is apparently 



widely spread in India but nowhere seriously 



destructive. It is very easily checked by 



pulling off, the little dried knots of leaves 



and burning them with the larva or 



pupa inside. Spraying with lead arseni- 



ate also checks it but is not generally 



necessary. The pest is one that is on the 



whole of little importance, and generally 



needs to be checked only on experi- 

 mental farms where the cotton plants are 



required to come to their full normal 



vigour. Parasites keep it in check to 



some extent. Where the mealy bug 



attacks cotton, the two pests are found 



together, and often the bud caterpillar 



Fia. 113. 



Moth of Cotton Bud Caterpillar. 

 (Magnified five times) 



is confused with the caterpillar which feeds upon the mealy bug. 



The Cotton Stem Borer. 1 



During the growth of cotton plants, from the time the first flower 

 buds are formed until the bolls are picked, single plants are found to 



1 60. Sphenoptera gossypii. Kerr. (Buprestidse.) 



