﻿UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1397 



Washington, D. C. 



June, 1926 



THE PINK BOLLWORM,' WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO STEPS TAKEN BY 

 THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE TO PREVENT ITS ESTABLISHMENT 

 IN THE UNITED STATES.^ 



By W. D. Hunter,^ Senior Entomologist, in Charge of Southern Field-Crop 

 Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology, and Mem,ber of the Federal 

 Horticultural Board. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Historical 1 



Original home 2 



Present range , 3 



Present distribution in Mexico 4 



Description and life bistory o 



Natural enemies 12 



Nature and extent of damage 12 



Damage in Mexico 14 



Precautions taken to prevent the in- 

 troduction of the pink bollworm 



into the United States 16 



Page 



Discovery in Mexico 10 



Discovery in Texas 20 



Organization of the preventive work 



of the Department of Agriculture- 22 

 Chronological summary of infesta- 



tlonsi 23 



Scouting outside of known infested 



districts . 25 



Present status 27 



Literature cited 29 



HISTORICAL 



In 1842 the superintendent of the Government cotton plantations 

 at Broach, India, sent specimens of a very destructive cotton insect 

 to the distinf^uished En<^lish entomolof^ist, W. W. Saunders. The 

 specimens were described as a new species, Depressaria (now Pec- 

 tinophora) gofisypiella., by Saunders in a paper presented to the 

 Entomolojrical Society of London on June 6, 1842 {18) ^ This is the 

 first published record concernin<jf the insect which is now attracting 

 so miK'h attention in the principal cotton-producin<? countries of 

 the world. 



For 01 years after the publication of Saunders' description no 

 published statement re<jjardin<r the pink bollworm was issued. In 

 1904, however, an article was issued by J. Vosseler {liO)^ re*^ardin<? 

 the great injury caused by the insect in German East Africa. With- 



' Pf'f-Hnophfira fjonH)/pleJla SiiiiiidciH ; older rv<>pldopterii, family Oflechlldae. 



^'This bulletin superH'KjcH Dcpinlim-nt I'.iiUctln 7'-':t, iHsucd under the wame tide in 

 101 H. 



M)i«<l October 13, 102.'). 'I'lic iiianiiseii|)l of llils liiilleliti li.'id il.< lliial revision l).v the 

 author June 22, Ht2.'». 



* XumberH (italic) in iKU/Dllie-cs refer l» " IJIeruluro cili.'d," \>. L".). 



72237"— 26 1 



