200 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STAPLE CROPS. 



fibre " by their yellowish excrement. This indelible stain 

 greatly depreciated the market value of the fibre, and 

 was a vexing loss. Though never of commerical impor- 

 tance, it was found by experiments that a rich orange dye 

 could be made from these insects, which could be easily 



Fig. 114. — The Red Bug or Cotton-stainer {Dysdereus suturelluft) 

 enlarged, a, nymph; h, adult. (From "Insect Life.") 



fixed upon silks and woolens by an alum mordant. In 

 winter these insects congregate in heaps of cotton-seeds, 

 and by using these as traps the insects may be killed with 

 hot water. 



Several other insects attack the bolls, but never very 

 extensively. Among them is a weevil (Arcecerus fascicu- 

 latus) often mistaken for the Mexican Boll-weevil and 

 which closelv resembles that insect. It is a '^ cosmopolitan 



