INSECTS INJURIOUS TO COTTON. 191 



sometimes is eaten away so that the pupa hangs exposed, 

 and there sj)ins around it a silken cocoon and transforms 

 to the chrysalis or pupa. In this stage the insect remains 

 dormant for from one week to a month, when the adult 

 moth emerges. 



The imago is of a dull olive-gray color with a wing- 

 expanse of about one and one-third inches, with wings 

 marked as shown in Fig. 107, and sometimes with a 

 purplish lustre. Like most of its relatives of the Xoctuidce^ 

 or ''night-flying moths,'' it flies only after sunset, but, 

 unlike them, it is not confined to the nectar of flowers for 

 fool, -''s its mouth is peculiarly adapted to piercing the 

 skin ol rij)e fruit and feeding upon its tissues. They are 

 strong flyers, the moths of the later broods frequently 

 flying as far north as Canada. At such times they have 

 been known to do serious damage to peaches in Kansas, 

 and to cantaloups in Wisconsin. 



The first two broods develop rapidly, and in the extreme 

 South and by early April the moths emerge and are carried 

 northward by the prevailing winds. Eggs deposited by 

 them develop into moths, which, in turn, fly further 

 northward, and thus the worms are gradually found 

 throughout the whole cotton belt, though with a consider- 

 able confusion between the various broods. At least seven 

 broods occur in the far South and three at the northern 

 limit of the species range. With this number of genera- 

 tions, it is readily perceived, considering the number of 

 eggs laid by each female, how such great numbers of the 

 caterpillars may arise by the latter part of the season, 

 in a region where practically none remain over winter. 

 The progeny of a single moth after four generations would 

 amount to over 300,000,000,000 individuals, or, if placed 



