CHAPTER X. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON. 



INJURING THE LEAVES. 



The Cotton-worm (Aletia xylina Say). 



Best known of all the insect enemies of the cotton-plant 

 is the Cotton-worm. Though the subject of numerous 

 extensive investigations, it is such an ever-present pest that 

 practical information concerning those habits which must 

 be considered in successfully combating it is always perti- 

 nent. Let us commence, then, with the new year, and 

 follow the species through the season. 



L\fe-liidory. — During the winter months the adult 

 moths hibernate in the most southern portion of the 

 cotton belt, principally Florida and Texas, in the rank 

 wire-grass occurring in the more thickly timbered regions. 

 Only a few of these survive, but they are very capable 

 ancestors, and in early March lay their eggs upon ratoon 

 cotton where it is only an inch or two high. The eggs 

 are laid singly, usually upon the under surface of the 

 leaves, preferably near the top of the plant, and about five 

 hundred are laid by each female moth. They are of a 

 flattened convex shape, bluish green in color, and with a 

 number of prominent ridges converging to the apex. In 

 midsummer the eggs hatch in three or four days, but in 

 the spring and autumn a much longer period is required. 



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