THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



213 



toQiato iu South Illinois, eating into the green 

 fruit, (Fig. 160), and thereby causing such frnit 



[Vis 150 ] 



Colors— green, brown and yellow . 



to rot. In this manner it often causes serious loss 

 to the tomato-grower, and it may justly be con- 

 sidered the worst enemy to the tomato in that 

 section of the country. Mr. Glover also found 

 it feeding in a young i)umpkiii. But at present 

 we shall consider it only in its role of Cotton 

 Boll-worm ; and shall recount its habits as such. 

 The egg from which the worm hatches (Fig. 

 1;J1 a, side view ; b, top view magnified,) is rib- 



[Fig. 151.] 



Colors— (a and b) pale yellow; (f) green, In-own and black; 

 (rf) brown; (eand/) clayey-yellow, Willi greenish fint. 



bed iu a somewhat similar manner to that of the 

 Cotton-worm, but may readily be distinguished 

 by being less flattened, and of a pale-straw 

 color instead of green. It is usually deposited 

 singly on the outside of the involucel or outer 

 calyx of the flower or young boll, and each fe- 

 male moth is capable of thus consigning to their 

 proper places, upwards of five hundred eggs. 

 Mr. Glover, in his account of the Boll-worm, pub- 



lished in the Monthly Report of the Department 

 of Agriculture for July, 18CG, says: "Some 

 eggs of the Boll-worm moth hatched in three or 

 four days after being brought in from the field, 

 the enclosed worms gnawing a hole through the 

 shell of the egg and then escaping. They soon 

 commenced feeding upon the tender fleshy sub- 

 stance of the caly.v, near the place where the 

 Qg-g had been deposited. When they had gained 

 strength, some of the worms pierced through the 

 calyx, and otliers through the petals of the closed 

 flower-bud, or even penetrated into the young 

 and tender boll itself. The pistils and stamens of 

 the open flower, arc frequently found to be dis- 

 torted and injured without any apparent cause. 

 This has been done by the young Boll-worm; 

 when hidden in the unopened bud, it has eaten one 

 side only of the pistil and stamens, so that when 

 the flower is open the parts injured are distorted 

 and maimed, and very frequently the flower falls 

 without forming any boll whatever. In many 

 cases, however, the young worm bores through 

 the bottom of the flower into the immature boll 

 before the old flower falls, thus leaving the boll 

 and involucel or envelope still adhering to the 

 foot-stalk, with the worm safely lodged in the 

 growing boll. The number of buds destroyed 

 by this worm is very great, as they fall oft" when 

 quite small, and are scarcely observed as they 

 lie brown and withering on the ground beneath 

 the plant. The instinct of the Boll-worm, how- 

 ever, teaches it to forsake a bud or boll about to 

 fall, and either to seek another healthy boll, or 

 to fasten itself to a leaf, on which it remains 

 until at length it acquires size and strength suf- 

 ficient to enable it to bore into the nearly ma- 

 tured bolls, the interior of which is nearly 

 destroyed by its attacks, as, should it not be 

 completely devoured, rain penetrates through 

 the hole made by theAvorm, and the cotton soon 

 becomes rotten and will not ripen. * * One 

 thing is worthy of observation, and that is, 

 whenever a young boll or bud is seen with the 

 involucre spread open, and of a sickly yellow 

 color, it may be safely concluded that it has been 

 attacked by the Boll-worm, and will soon perish 

 and fall to the ground. * * * The buds in- 

 jured by the worm may readily be distinguished 

 by a minute hole where it has entered, and 

 which, when cut open, will be found partially 

 filled with small black grains, something like 

 coarse gun powder, which is nothing but the 

 digested food after having passed through the 

 body of the worm.'' 



Like the Cotton-worm, this insect is very vari- 

 able in the larva state, the young worms vary- 



