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NOTES ON TINEINA BRED FROM COTTON-BOLLS. 

 By John Hartley Durrant, F.E.S. 



(Published by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.) 



Enquiries are frequently made through the Entomological Research Com- 

 mittee with reference to Tineina bred from cotton, and as the notes on Gelechia 

 gossypiella, Sndrs., published by Lord Walsingham in Fauna Hawaiiensis 

 [1. 731-4 (1907)] are not generally accessible, I have been requested to revise 

 these notes and reprint them with additional information on gossypiella and two 

 species of Pyroderces. It is quite clear that the Gelechia does immense damage 

 to the cotton, attacking the seeds in the boll, but what damage (if any) is actually 

 occasioned by Pyroderces simplex, Wlsm. (= gossypiella, Wlsm.), and rileyi, 

 Wlsm., is not manifest ; it would seem that these species are associated with 

 cotton already injured by damp or other insects rather than themselves being the 

 cause of injury. Further information will doubtless be supplied now that the 

 names are available. 



GELECHIADAE. 



Gelechia, Hb. 



Gelechia gossypiella, Sndrs. 



(= "The Pink Boll-worm," Mx-Lfry.) 



Depressaria gossypiella, Sndrs., Tr. Ent. Soc. Lond. 3, p. 284-5 (1844) 1 : 

 Zool. 9, p. 3070 (1851) 2 ; Swinh-Cotes, Cat. Moths Ind., p. 716, sp. 4900 

 (1889) 3 ; Cotes, Ind. Mus. Notes, 2, p. 163 No. 148 (1893) 4 



Gelechia gossypiella, Meyr., Jr. Bomb. N.H. Soc. 16, p. 592 (1905) 5 ; 

 Mx-Lfry., Agr. Jr. Ind. 1, p. 49-61, pi. 9 (1906) 6 : Ind. Ins. Pests, p. 93-6, 

 tf. 104-7 (1906) 7 ; Wlsm., Fn. Haw. 1, p. 731-3 and 744, sp. 21*1 (1907) 8 ; 

 Mx-Lfry., Ind. Ins. Life, p. 534 and 532 tf. 344 (1909) 9 ; Morstatt, Die Pflanzer 

 (Zts. Land-Forst. Deutsch. Ost-Afr.) 7, 66 (1911) 10 . ' 



" Dark fuscous brown, the head and thorax somewhat lighter in colour. 

 Anterior wings with an undefined round blackish spot on the disc a little above 

 the centre, and a fascia of the same colour crossing the wings a little above the 

 apex, which itself is black. Under wings of a silvery grey, darker towards the 

 hinder margin. Legs and tarsi black-brown, with the joints light. Length 

 4-10ths inch. 



" The larva in the dried state is about 4-10ths of an inch long, largest just 

 behind the head, of a dull red colour, with the head dark brown. 



" The following is an extract of the letter which accompanied the specimens : — 

 ' The inclosed is an insect which was very destructive to the American cotton 

 which was sown here (Broach), on light alluvial soil. The egg is deposited in 

 the germen at the time of flowering, and the larva feeds upon the cotton seed 

 until the pod is about to burst, a little previous to which time it has opened a 

 round hole in the side of the pod for air, and at which to make an exit at its 



