BIOLOGY OF THE MEXICAN COTTON BOLL WEEVIL. 



29 



and all fruit in which eggs had been deposited was recorded and 

 removed from the jar. The records of the experiment are presented 

 in Table XV. A total of 49 eggs were deposited in upland squares 

 compared with 17 eggs deposited in sea-island cotton squares. Eggs 

 were deposited in six sea-island bolls, but in none of the upland 

 cotton bolls. 



Table XV. — Preference shown by females of the boll weevil in locations for ovi- 

 position on sea-island and upland cotton, Madison, Fla., 1918. 



Date. 



Eggs in- 



Upland 

 squares. 



Sea- 

 island 

 squares. 



Upland 

 bolls. 



Sea- 

 island 

 bolls. 







 

 5 

 3 

 9 

 3 

 6 

 2 

 4 

 5 

 3 

 4 

 5 





 

 

 

 4 

 2 

 3 

 2 

 3 

 

 1 

 2 

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



3 

 1 

 2 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



July 18 



July 19 



July 20 



July 21 



July 22 



July 23 



July 24 





July 26 



July 27 



July 29 



July 31 



Total 



49 



17 







6 



COMPARISON OF THE NUMBER OF BOLL WEEVILS THAT EMERGE FROM UPLAND 

 AND SEA-ISLAND SQUARES AND BOLLS. 



The writer placed 4,000 upland squares in a large wire-screen cage 

 on August 26, 1918. The squares were carefully examined to deter- 

 mine whether each square was punctured and large enough to sup- 

 port the developing weevil larva. Similarly, 4,000 sea-island squares 

 were put up on the same date. 



From the 4,000 upland squares 1,476 adult weevils emerged soon 

 after the squares were placed in the large cage, or a percentage of 

 36.9. From the sea-island squares 1,979 weevils, or a percentage 

 of 49.4, emerged. 



One thousand five hundred upland and 1,500 sea-island bolls were 

 placed in a large wire-screen cage on September 1, 1918, to determine 

 whether more weevils would hatch from sea-island than from upland 

 bolls. It is shown in Plate I that there is a decided difference in 

 structure between the two types of bolls, the sea-island being oblong, 

 with a soft and oily texture. One hundred weevils hatched from the 

 upland bolls compared to 650 weevils from the sea-island-cotton bolls. 



From the records secured at Madison, Fla., during 1918, it ap- 

 peared that the majority of egg punctures in sea-island bolls pro- 

 duced adult boll weevils. It not infrequently happened that as many 

 as from four to eight weevil larvae would complete their life cycle 

 in a single boll. 



