48 



Some 32 plants on which eggs have been found, or upon which moths 

 have been observed to oviposit, are included in this list. A number 

 of these are present as weeds in corn and cotton fields and the eggs 

 deposited are more likely laid on account of proximity than otherwise. 

 In the case of the wild-onion flowers and rosebuds it is probable that 

 the scarcit}^ of food at such times (April and October) attracts them to 

 these plants. Indeed, roses in gardens and cemeteries seem to be the 

 first plants chosen for oviposition early in the spring. Oviposition on 

 alfalfa, tobacco, etc., is by no means accidental, as the larvae thrive 

 well on these plants. The number of miscellaneous plants is sufficient 

 to show, however, that under certain conditions no very careful selec- 

 tion is exercised b}^ the female in ovipositing. 



It must be mentioned that garden vegetables were at all times very 

 free from bollworm eggs, especially in the spring and fall. This is at 

 variance with the records of a number of observers, who have found 

 larvae common on such plants. 



The occurrence of larvee on miscellaneous plants will be considered 

 on a later page. 



NUMBER OF EGGS LAID BY A SINGLE MOTH. 



Numerous moths were kept under observation at various times 

 during the season to determine the number of eggs which would be 

 deposited under different conditions. 



Observations on earlj^ spring moths in the northern part of Texas 

 seem to indicate that the .number of eggs laid by them is rather small, 

 averaging only 415 for each moth of a series of ten which were kept in 

 the laboratory. At Victoria, however, in the southern part of the 

 State, moths developing from overwintered pup^e averaged over 1,200 

 each for a series of five moths. 





T. 



iBLE XII. — Daili/ oviposition records of moths. 













Locality. 



Began 

 to lay. 



Died. 



Egg-laying record on consecutive days. 



Total. 



Paris, Tex 



May 13 

 May 12 

 Mav 12 

 Apr. 25 

 Mav 10 

 May 9 

 May 7 

 May 7 

 July 16 

 July 18 

 July 23 



May 18 

 Mav 19 

 Mav 20 

 Mav 4 

 May 14 

 May 16 

 May 19 

 Mav 13 

 July 17 

 July 27 

 Aug. 1 



36 



10 



48 



147 



556 



671 



404 



74 



548 



8 



780 



260 

 42 

 157 

 140 

 245 

 441 

 107 



i^ 



//* 



11 



542 



50 

 19 

 159 

 165 

 184 

 405 

 

 148 



10 



8 



66 



100 



141 



189 







193 



130 



78 



38 



246 



92 



113 



148 



115 



















486 



Do 



270 

 23 

 152 



10 

 32 

 64 















437 



Do 



62 

 6 













585 



Victoria Tex 







105 









1, 125 



Do 









1,218 



Do 



148 



50 



117 



76 

 45 

 98 



116 

 26 













2, 159 



Do 



Do 



32 



26 



« 



50 





905 

 830 



Paris, Tex 



Do 















1 325 ■ 



23 

 404 



15 

 337 



29 

 251 



60 

 221 



33 

 71 



53 

 95 



20 

 12 



50 

 5 









297 



Do .. . 









2, 718 















General average for each moth, 1,098. 



It will be noticed that there is nearly always a gradual decline in 

 the number of eggs laid during each succeeding d^y. In the case of 

 a few moths, more than one day shows a considerabl}^ greater oviposi- 

 tion than the others, the number of eggs rising to one maximum, 

 decreasing, and then rising again, thus resulting in an irregular curve, 



