﻿THE PINK BOLLWOEM 



Presidio and Brewster Counties, Tex. In all these cases the in- 

 festations were caused by seed from the Laguna. The insect has 

 frequently been found alive in freight cars coming from the interior 

 of iSlexico to Texas border ports. 



DESCRIPTION AND LIFE HISTORY 



The pink bollworm has four stages ; namely, egg, larva, pupa, and 

 adult, or moth. The moth (fig. 1) resembles somewhat the common 

 clothes moth of this 

 country. From tip 

 to tip of the ex- 

 tended 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 hind- 

 wings 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. 2) 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 cjdindrical, white, with 

 the dorsal side of a strong pink color. 



The pupa (fig. 3) is about two-fifths of an inch in length, reddish 

 brown, the posterior end pointed and ending in a hooklike process. 



Several insects are 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 corn worm or scavenger bollworm {Pyroderces rileyi 



W a 1 s i n g h am), 

 t/iir^/. ' ' 



1. — The pink bollworm {Pee- 

 tinophora f/ossypiella) : Adult. 

 Much enlarged. (Busck.) 



Fig. 2. — The pink bollworm : Outllno dniwinK of Inrvn, 

 showing Htructun-. Much cnlarKi'd. ( HuHck ) 



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 tliis fact will help in distinguishing it fi'oin the pink 

 bollworm. Another insez-t wliicli may be mistaken for the jjink 

 bollworm is the W)mmon bollworm of cotton {flcliothis ohmleta 

 Fab.), lliis is the same ins('ct tliat feeds on corn and is known in 

 some parts of the country as tli<^ corn earworm. It bores holes 

 (hi-ougli the carpels of the boll, feeds for a short time, and then i)ro- 

 (•♦•(mIs to another boll. In the early stages it sometimes assumes 



