COTTON INSECTS 127 



Clover sitones (Sifones flavescens) . 

 Clover-root mealy bug {Pseiidococciis trifolii). 

 Alfalfa looper {Aiitographa gamma calif ornica). 

 Alfalfa caterpillar {Eiirymtis eurythemc) . 

 Clover-root curculio {Sitones hispiduhts). 

 Alfalfa gall midge (Asphondylia miki). 

 Lesser clover-leaf weevil (Phytonomus nigriro- 

 sfris). 



COTTON PESTS 



Mexican cotton boll-weevil " (Anfhonomtis 



grandis) 



Order — Coleoptera 



Introduced from Mexico about 1892; a grayish- 

 black snout beetle, about >^ to 1-3 of an inch in 

 length; punctures squares and bolls and deposits 

 eggs in them; life cycle from 15 to 20 days; several 

 generations in a season and all stages passed in 

 squares and bolls; passes winter as adults and 

 causes millions of dollars loss each year. 



Control — Plant cotton early; plant early vari- 

 eties and hasten maturity by fertilization and culti- 

 vation ; plant wide in rows ; burn infested plants in 

 fall to destroy all stages of weevil ; rotate crops and 

 diversify; poison with calcium arsenate. 



Cotton worm ^^ (Alabama argillacea) 

 Order — Lepidoptera 



The cotton moth lays its eggs on leaves of cot- 

 ton ; the eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days ; young larva feeds 

 for a time on the undersides of leaves but soon be- 

 gins to devour leaves entirely; it molts five times 

 and attains its growth in 2 or 3 weeks and then 

 changes to a pupa in a flimsy cocoon in a leaf; life 



22 Hunter— U. S. Dept. Agr., Par's' Bull. 344. 



23 Hunter— U. S. Bu. Ent, Circ. 153. 



