UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



% BULLETIN No. 918 



P(^ Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology *\*3*X*sz 



L. O. HOWARD, Chief, in collaboration with the Federal ^m^A^-^l^T 

 Horticultural Board, C. L. MARLATT, Chairman ^|^^ 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



April 19, 1921 



REPORT ON INVESTIGATIONS OF THE PINK BOLL- 

 WORM 1 OF COTTON IN MEXICO. 



By U. C« Lofttn, Entomological Assistant, K. B. McKixxey, Scientific Assistant, 

 and W. K. Hanson, 2 Plant Quarantine Inspector. 



CONTENTS. 



The Laguna district .. 1 



Distribution of the pink bolhvonn 4 



Life history 5 



Seasonal history 19 



Feeding habits of larvae 21 



Damage caused by the pink bollworm 24 



Food plants 32 



Dispersal 34 



Natural control 38 



Repression 47 



Summary 56 



Literature cited 57 



Appendix 58 



THE LAGUNA DISTRICT. 



In 1918 the Federal Horticultural Board deemed it advisable to 

 establish a research station in a locality where there was a sufficient 

 infestation of the pink bollworm to make possible the gathering of 

 detailed information regarding this serious cotton pest. This research 

 station was established in February, 1918, in Ciudad Lerdo, Durango, 

 Mexico, near Torreon. Approximately 95 per cent of the upland 

 cotton produced in the Republic of Mexico is grown in tins vicinity, 

 the so-called Laguna district. 



1 Pectinophora gossypiella Saunders: Order Lepidoptera, fam il y Gelechiidae. 



2 This report is based on two years' work in the Laguna, conducted by the Federal Horticultural Board 

 under authority given, in the appropriation for the eradication of the pink bollworm, to investigate in Mexico 

 or elsewhere the pink bollworm as a basis for control measures. The experts conducting this investiga- 

 tion were transferred to the Board for this purpose from the Bureau of Entomology and this paper is there- 

 fore offered for publication as a joint contribution from these two offices. Provision for the establishment 

 of the laboratory in Mexico and authority for the work was obtained through the courtesy of Senor Pastor 

 Eouix, Secretary of Agriculture of Mexico. The work was made possible also by the active cooperation 

 and assistance of the cotton planters of the Lag una . Special thanks are extended to the Tlahualilo Com- 

 pany, the Testamentaria de Carlos Gonzales, and to Mr. Lloyd Rone for the use of their plantations for 

 experimental purposes and many other courtesies. This station was established during 1918 under the 

 general field direction of Mr. August Busck and was continued by the authors of this paper under the 

 general direction of the chairman of the Board and Dr. W. D. Hunter. 



11696°— 21— Bull. 918 1 



