COTTON 411 



Occasionally the cocoons are attached to the stem or 

 a dead leaf, and sometimes the boll worm crawls down 

 the stem of the cotton plant, and attaches its cocoon to the 

 latter just below the ground level. 



Mr. Fletcher 1 states that tffey also enter the cracks in 

 the soil to pupate, and that they spin their cocoons on 

 the under side of the leaves and weeds growing amongst 

 the cotton. So far Mr. Willcocks has not been able to 

 find them in this position. What proportion of the larvae 

 pupate in these last-named situations is not known, but 

 it will probably be found that the majority pupate on the 

 plants. One would expect this to be the case from the 

 nature of the cocoon. 



Situation of the Cocoon on other Plants*. In the case 

 of tehl (Hibiscus cannabinus), the cocoons are spun 

 between the seed capsules and the stem, or between two 

 contiguous fruits, and occasionally on the involucral 

 bracts. On the garden hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) 

 they may be found on the stem in such places as the fork 

 of a branch, or under a piece of loose bark, etc. 



Description of the Cocoon (Plate I, Fig. 18). The 

 cocoon is somewhat boat-shaped, but it varies slightly 

 in form, according to the position in which it has been 

 made. The end at which the head of the pupa is situated 

 is blunt, and consists of two lips, which are tightly drawn 

 together with silken strands ; they can, however, be forced 

 apart easily by a slight squeeze between the finger and 

 thumb, and also by the moth itself when it is ready to 

 emerge. These lips turn outwards slightly and form a 

 ridge, which projects at the apex into a small silken 

 process; this is more marked in some specimens than in 

 others. 



The silk of which the cocoon is made is very closely 

 woven and felt-like in texture; in colour it varies from 

 white and dirty cream to pale and dark brown. There 

 are, however, two coats of silk, which can be easily 

 separated, and it is only the outer one which is dark- 

 coloured; the inner is pale, often white, with a pearly 

 lustre. 



1 " Notes on some Egyptian Insect Pests," p. 65, Bombay, 1905. 



