io6 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



tions, to the effecl that a dry season, that is, one 

 not too wet for cotton, ma)^ be followed by the 

 caterpillar, in this latitude, in such numbers as to 

 do great injury to the crop ; and that a wet sea- 

 son, that is, one in which the rain-fall lessens the 

 maturity of the fruit, may not be followed by the 

 caterpillar in sufficient numbers to injure the crop. 



I desire to direct afresh your observation to the 

 influence of the winds on the Aletia. For some 

 years past this has been my own observation on 

 that subject, viz. : 



(i) At any season of the year the prevalence of 

 S. East winds for two or three days consecu- 

 tively, regardless of wet or dry weather, will be 

 followed in fifteen to twenty days after the pre- 

 valence stated of those winds, by the moth of the 

 Aletia in large numbers. 



(2) If the winds prevail from any other course 

 than E. and S. of East, after May and until Octo- 

 ber, we do not, in this latitude, find the caterpil- 

 lar in numbers sufficient to injure the crop of 

 cotton. 



(3) Last year (1879) I made note of the follow- 

 ing facts : the month of May was dry in this 

 vicinity ; so dry that corn was retarded in growth, 

 and ever)'where unpromising ; E. and S. East 

 winds prevailed; ergo (?) early in June the cotton 

 caterpillar was reported in large numbers in 

 Montgomery and Dallas counties ! 



(4) Early in June the winds changed their 

 course from E. and S. E. to S. and S. West. 

 The caterpillars present did no harm whatever, 

 for full three months. 



Now, let us note the seasons from June to loth 

 Sept., when at this latter date the caterpillars 

 began to destroy the crops. 



The season from June to 15th July was dry, 

 and the winds were S. and S. West. 



A rainy season began on 15th July. We had 

 daily rains until 19th August. The winds con- 

 tinued to come from S. and S. West all the rainy 

 season. The caterpillars did no harm in this 

 rainy season, although they were alarmingly 

 present. 



The rain ceased 6 days to begin again on 25th 

 August. 



The winds veered on 25th Aug. or about that 

 day, from S. and S. West to E. and S. East, and 

 by loth Sept. all the foliage had been stripped from 

 the cotton ! 



The summary of these facts is that (i) early in 

 June after a dry May, distinguished by the preva- 

 lence of E. and S. East winds, the caterpillar ap- 

 peared; (2) the caterpillar did not then eat the crop, 

 and contemporaneously with its advent the winds 

 changed from E. and S. E. to S. and S. West ; 

 (3) a rainy season put in 15th July and was ex- 

 cessive until 19th August, and the winds were S. 

 and S. West, and the caterpillar though present 

 did no work ; (4) the rains began again 25th Aug. I 



and the winds were then, for the first time since 

 May, E. and S. East, and by loth Sept. the cater- 

 pillar had destroyed the crop. 



There were two seasons of E. and S. East winds 

 only, one in May followed by the caterpillar, an- 

 other from 25th Aug. to 10th Sept. followed by 

 the caterpillar. 



The caterpillar was present from June until 

 25th August but did no work, and in that time 

 the winds were S. and S. West. 



What effect has the course of the winds on the 

 character of the growth of the cotton plant? and 

 what character of growth in the cotton plant is 

 favorable or unfavorable to the sustenance of 

 the caterpillar? 



M}' observation is, the prevalence of E. and S. 

 E. winds is followed by a rich, juicy, sappy, 

 heavy foliage, never that which precedes a heavy 

 fruitage of blooms and bolls ; and that the pre- 

 valence of S. and S. W. winds is followed by 

 small, pale-green, shaip-pointed foliage, favorable 

 to heavy fruitage of blooms and bolls. 



I have also noted that the caterpillar destroys 

 the rich foliage much more greedily than he does 

 the hard pale-green foliage. 



It is a common remark that a "worm)'earis 

 never a cotton year, even if the worm did not 

 destroy the crop." 



I never saw a good yield of blooms and bolls 

 with the winds from E. and S. East. — J. W. Du- 

 Bose, Pike Road, Montgomery Co., Ala. 



Mite preying on Orange scale. — In Canadian 

 Entomologist No. 8, Vol. XI, I described a mite 

 under the name Acarus glovei-ii, and thought it 

 probably preyed upon the eggs of a scale insect. 

 This winter I have continued my investigations 

 and have had the pleasure of studying up its life 

 history. 



The mite belongs to the genus Tyroglyphus. 

 The eggs, between two and three hundred, 

 are laid in December on the under part of an 

 orange leaf, generally close to a midrib or a pri- 

 mar)f vein, and frequently alongside a scale. 



The)^ are elliptical, of a reddish-3'ellow color, 

 nearly twice as long as broad, and very finely 

 granulated. Length about 1-500 of an inch. 



From the middle of January until the middle 

 of March, there hatches a six-legged mite, of 

 a bright blood-red, with three or four oval 

 black spots on hinder part of abdomen, and 

 sparsely covered with long hairs, six of these 

 (two anterior, two posterior, and two lateral) are 

 much longer than the others. 



In from three to four weeks these curl up their 

 legs and form a sort of pupa, which in a few days 

 changes into an eight-legged mite, having nearly 

 the shape as before, only larger, broader and 

 more flattened, with two short hairs protruding 

 from the head and of a lighter shade of red. In 

 these stages they are gre^rious, all living hud- 



