PINK BOLLWORM OF COTTON IN MEXICO. 7 



Longevity. 



Males and females are produced in about equal proportions and 

 their length of life is about equal. Under favorable laboratory 

 conditions one moth was kept alive for 26 days, but the average 

 length of life of the adult was 14.7 days. There are no indications 

 that moths ever live for long periods of time or pass the winter in 

 this stage. 



Whether moths under natural conditions ever take nourishment 

 other than water was never observed, but just as many eggs were 

 deposited in the breeding jars where pure water was used as where 

 sweetened water was substituted. Water is a very essential factor 

 in the longevity of the adult. The average length of life of the 

 moths where no water could be obtained was 7.6 days, compared to 

 14.7 days when water was supplied daily. 



Preoviposition Period. 



Eggs were deposited in captivity from 1 to 6 days after issuance 

 of the moth, with an average of 3.8 days preoviposition period. It 

 is not known how long a period elapses before oviposi- ^- -~x 

 tion begins in nature, but from analogy with other species / , ; \ 

 it is possible that the bulk of the eggs are laid the first |V ; , 



night under normal field conditions. The moths were 

 never observed in the act of depositing eggs, either in the 1 

 fields or in the breeding cages, but from the night-flying V- 

 habits of the moth it is evident that oviposition takes place \$£&} 

 at dusk or at night. fk»- 2.— Egg 



EGG. of P ectino- 



phora gossy- 

 Description. piella. High- 



The egg is small, elongate oval, somewhat broader at ly magmfied - 

 one end; length from 0.4 to 0.6 mm., breadth 0.2 to 0.3 mm.; shell 

 iridescent, pearly white with greenish tint when first deposited, turning 

 to almost red before hatching ; surface finely reticulated with regular 

 longitudinal lines or ridges with irregular cross-connections, resem- 

 bling the reticulations on the hull of a peanut. (Fig. 2.) The larva 

 can be easily seen inside the shell just prior to hatching. 



Position on Plant. 



The eggs are deposited on all parts of the plant, including the 

 bolls and bracts, leaf buds, leaves, stems, and squares. The prefer- 

 ence is for some more or less hidden location, such as the base of the 

 boll, between the bracts and bolls, the folds of the small leaf buds, 

 the creases formed by the veins and midribs of the leaves, and the 

 axils of the leaves. 



Some heavily infested plants were examined at Lerdo during 

 August and September, 1919, to determine the proportion of eggs 



