206 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO STAPLE CROPS. 



"however, seeruB inevitable; and a knowledge of its habits 

 and methods for its control are therefore not nntimely. 



The parent of all the mischief is a small, grayish beetle, 

 hardly one- fourth of an inch in length, wdiile the per- 

 petrators of the worst injury are the little, fleshy grubs or 

 larvae, which live and feed within the squares and bolls. 



Li fe-lii story. — Until late in December, or as long as any 



Fig. 116.— The Cotton Boll-weevil (AutJionomns grandis Boh.), a, 

 adult beetle; b, pupa; c, larva — enlarged. (From "Insect Life.") 



part of the plants are green, the beetles may be found 

 upon them. During the winter they hide in the rubbish 

 on the field or among the weeds surrounding it, and there 

 hibernate until the sunshine of early spring brings them 

 forth for another season of dej^redation. As soon as the 

 buds have formed on the volunteer plants the beetles are 

 upon them and lay their eggs in the early squares. Almost 

 invariably, the work of a larva hatching from one of these 

 eggs causes the '''square^' infested to drop to the ground^ 

 where the larva becomes full-grown, transforms to a pupa, 

 and comes forth as a beetle in about four weeks in all. 



