138 COTTON PLANTER'S MANUAL. 



chrysalides never go in the ground at all, but are invariably 

 attached to something above the surface. This is a fact that 

 could not have escaped the attentive observer. I ask how a 

 chrysalis invariably formed above ground, and incapable of 

 locomotion, is to work its way beneath the soil ? As to the 

 insect in any condition secreting itself in the earth, beneath 

 the bark of trees, under fallen timber, &c., it is altogether a 

 mistake, if not an absurdity, and easier asserted than proved. 

 In treating of the cotton-fly in the following pages, my aim 

 has been to found my assertions upon general principles, and 

 though the practised entomologist may find some inaccuracies 

 in the detail, yet I insist upon the principles as universal and 

 incontrovertible. 



Let us now pass to the consideration of the cotton-fly, pre- 

 mising, however, before entering into an examination of this 

 destructive little moth, that my remarks are intended less to 

 enlighten others than to elicit information from some one who 

 is better able to inform the public mind on this interesting 

 subject. As for myself, I must confess that my limited ob- 

 servations do not justify me in coming to any positive conclu- 

 sions, and have by no means satisfied my curiosity ; but my 

 information, such as it is, I give in the following pages, with 

 the hope that, however imperfect it may prove in the main, 

 yet that some mite of information may be gleaned from it. It 

 is impossible to think for a moment that this species of moth 

 has escaped the observation of entomologists, for the plant 

 upon which it feeds to the absolute exclusion of all others, 

 (being the great staple production of many countries,) must 

 have brought it into notice at various times and at various 

 places. From its univorous nature, (to coin a word,) it must 

 have been coeval with and inseparable from the existence of 

 the cotton plant. My principal motive for broaching this sub- 

 ject is on account of the frequent remarks made and fears 



