8 



BULLETTlSr 723, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



clothes moth of this countiy. From tip to tip of the extended wings 

 it measures from three-fifths to four-fifths of an inch. , It is of a 

 dark-brown color, the forewings ending in a rather sharp point. The 

 hindwings are somewhat broader than the forewings and end in an 

 even sharper point. The eggs are very small objects, somewhat oval, 

 about one-twenty-fifth of an inch long and one-fiftieth of an inch 

 broad. The surface is white and finely wrinkled. The larva (fig. 3) 



when first hatched 

 is glassy white with 

 light-brown anterior 

 markings. It grows 

 rapidly, and when 

 mature measures 

 nearly a half inch 

 in length. It is cy- 

 lindrical, white, with 

 the dorsal side 

 strongly c olored 

 with pink. 



The pupa (fig. 4) 

 is about two-fifths of 

 an inch in length, 

 reddish brown, the 

 posterior end pointed 

 and ending in a 

 hooklike process. 

 There are several 

 insects found in bolls of cotton in the United States which may be 

 mistaken for the pink bollworm. One of these is the so-called pink 

 cornworm or scavenger bollworm {Pyroderces rileyi Walsingham), 

 which frequently is found in decaying bolls, especially those which 

 have been injured by disease. It has not been known to attack 

 healthy bolls. It 

 does not normally 

 make its way into 

 the seed, and this 

 fact will help in 

 distinguishing it 

 from the pink boll- 

 worm. Another insect which may be mistaken for the pink bollworm 

 is the common bollworm of cotton {Chloridea obsoleta Fabricius). 

 This is the same insect that feeds on corn and is known in some parts 

 of the country as the corn earworm. It bores holes through the car- 

 pels of the bolls, feeds for a short time, and then proceeds to another 



Fig. 2. — The pink bollworm {Peciinophora gossi/piella) 

 Adult. Much enlarged. (Busck.) 



Fio. 3. — The pink bollworm : Outline drawing of larva, 

 showing structure. Much enlarged. (Busck.) 



