Cotton 



345 



the map shows. The dry weather, cold winters, and open 

 nature of the West seem to limit the westward movement. 

 509. Life History. The adult insects leave their win- 

 ter shelter early in the spring and deposit eggs in the 



Fig. 216. Mexican Cotton Weevil. B, ap- 

 pearance of normal square or flower with 

 involucre; A, "Flared" square following 

 deposit of egg in unopened bud ; C, Part 

 of flower-bud removed to show larva. 

 After Dr. W. D. Hunter. 



flower-buds. When the egg 

 i&rust into the flower- 

 bud (" stung" as it is some- 

 times improperly called), the 

 " square" or involucre is soon 

 " flared," as shown in Fig. 

 216, and shortly drops to the ground. In about 25 or 30 

 days from the laying of the egg, the mature weevils emerge 

 from the fallen flower-buds and start a new generation. 

 Thus a few weevils, starting early in the season, may, if 



