96 PLANT-BUGS INJURIOUS TO COTTON BOLLS. 



cotton at Hawthorn, Fla., were confined in a cage at the writer's 

 laboratory at Orlando, Fla. Within 24 hours after capture, 334 

 eggs were deposited and each of the 4 females was observed to be 

 much less robust, presumably, therefore, having deposited eggs. 

 These specimens all died between October 18 and October 25, 1906, 

 during the writer's absence from the laboratory. In all, 465 eggs 

 were deposited by the 4 females, an average of 116 eggs each. These 

 were deposited both loosely in the sand at the bottom of the cage 

 and in masses containing up to about 100 each. The eggs do not 

 form compact masses, nor do they adhere to any object when freshly 

 deposited. When covered by as much as one-fourth of an inch of 

 loose sand the nymphs were imable to free themselves from the 

 eggshells and died in all cases as far as observed. On October 26 

 an adult female was taken in coitu on cocklebur at Orlando, Fla., 

 being selected from a large number on account of its abdomen being 

 the most dilated, presumably with eggs. Upon dissection 78 full- 

 sized eggs were found. It is possible that a few, not exceeding 6 

 eggs, were destroyed in dissecting. It seems probable that about 

 80 or 85 eggs is the largest number which one female may deposit 

 at one laying, and this observation furnishes additional evidence that 

 each of the 4 females heretofore referred to deposited eggs on more 

 than one occasion. 



Gregariousness is a very strongly marked habit in this insect and 

 is of great importance in its control in the cotton fields. 



The writer's observation in a cotton field at Hawthorn, Fla., in 

 October, 1906, showed that the cotton stainer's injury to immature 

 bolls (PL III, figs. 2-7) exhibits the same characteristics as that 

 by the Pentatomids and other plant-bugs which have been treated 

 of herein. This injury, often resulting in complete destruction of the 

 entire boll affected, or of one or more of its locks, is generally con- 

 sidered by cotton growers in Florida to be due to climatic conditions. 

 It seems, however, to be more frequently ascribed to too much rain, 

 whereas, as has been stated, in Texas the plant-bug injury of this 

 kind is more often ascribed to dry weather. In one field the writer 

 has estimated that not less than 15 per cent of all bolls were destroyed 

 by the feeding of cotton stainers during the growing season. It is 

 important that the source of this ordinary plant-bug injury be recog- 

 nized. Brief observations at Hawthorn in 1906 cleared up much 

 of the uncertainty in regard to the nature of the yellowish stain of 

 the lint which is the generally recognized result of attack by the 

 cotton stainer. Mr. Johnson, of the firm of Smith & Johnson, cotton 

 ginners at Hawthorn, is well informed concerning this insect and 

 its work. It is his observation that the staining of the lint is due 

 to the bug's attack on the immature bolls and on the seed at the time 

 of opening, the brownish-yellow color being derived from the injured 



