LARGE WORMS BORING IN BUD OR FRUIT 211 



The Cowpea Curculio {Chalcodermus ceneus Boh.) 



The pods of cowpeas are punctured, and early in the spring young 

 cotton plants are injured, by the feeding of this beetle. The immature 

 stage or grub lives within the growing " peas," and ruins them for 

 seed. The adult beetle is one fourth of an inch long, bronze black, 

 its thorax and wing covers deeply pitted. When working on cotton, 

 the beetles puncture the tender stems. 



The insect hibernates as an adult. Eggs are laid in cowpeas as soon 

 as the pods are large enough. The larva enters the ground to pupate. 



No direct control measures are known. If cowpeas are badly in- 

 fested, it is unwise to follow with cotton in the same field. 



The Corn Ear-worm (Heliothis obsoleta Fab.) 



Synonyms: The Cotton Boll-worm; the Tomato Fruit-worm; the 

 Tobacco False Budworm 



Widespread injury to valuable garden and field crops is due to the 

 ravages of this insect. 



The full-grown worm is variable in markings, but usually is dull 

 greenish or brownish in color, with indistinct stripes or spots, and is 



Fig. 263. — Larva and work of the Corn Ear-worm. Reduced to one half 

 "> natural size. Original. 



about 1^ inches long. It is naked, and the skin looks somewhat 

 greasy, Uke that of cutworms. 



On corn the worms feed in the young kernels and eat the tender 



