THE COTTON WORM IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 41 



history bo reliable it is fair to preeuino tliat it was indigenous, because there is no 



knowledge of commercial relations with foreign countries at that period. 



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The winds here are easterly and southeasterly. — S. T. Trowbridge, U. S. Consul, 

 Vera Cruz, Mexico, March 3, 1880. 



I send you a bottle containing various kinds of worms that destroy the cotton and 

 plant. They are all I have been able to procure. This is now the i)art of the year in 

 which the worms usually appear, and they have been gathered near San Andres Tuxtla, 

 on the southern coast from here. 



On the coast they are called paJamas (moth) or salomilla (chrysalis or aurelia). Said 

 paloma is ash-color, and is nocturnal in its habits. The moth produces a multitude 

 of microscoi>ic eggs on the i)lant, which eggs create the worm, also microseoi)ic, and 

 which commences immediately to devour the plant, and so continues until it gets to 

 the state of enrolment, in order to pass through the last metamorphosis. I have not 

 been able to obtain sufficient data to say whether they were imported into this coun- 

 try, but I am assured that they do not make their appearance everj^ year at the same 

 place, or, better said, they only come one or two years in succession, then disappear 

 for six or eight years. They are not to be found in all the country at one time. Their 



reproduction is usually ascribed to our southern coast. 



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I understand their invasion can be victoriously combated by sprinkling dry chloride 

 of lime over the ground and plants, or an aqueous solution of the same, and I have 

 recommended this remedy to those living on the coast for a trial. — R. de Zayas Enri- 

 quez. Vera Cruz, March 2, 1880. 



[The worms sent by SeBor Enriquez are the genuine Aletia of all sizes, but mostly 

 full-grown. The facts communicated in the above reports are most interesting, not 

 only on account of the remote period to which the growth of cotton may be traced 

 on this continent, but also because of the general observations as to the reoccurrence 

 of the insect in injurious numbers at irregular periods only. In other words, the in- 

 •ect presents the same phenomena in Mexico as in this country, and the same facts 

 upon which the theory of annual immigration to the United States have been largely 

 based will hold equally true of a country essentially below the frost line. This all 

 goes to prove the correctness of our conclusions that the absence of Aletia during cer- 

 tain years is apparent only, and that its undue multiplication during other years is 

 paralleled by similar xihenomena in resjject of many other insects, and notably of the 

 Northern Army Worm, the apparently sudden appearance and disappearance of which 

 over vast regions is even more marked than in the case of Aletia. Yet, as we have 

 shown in the case of both these insects, they may always be found in limited numbers 

 even when their presence is not suspected.] 



The following notes on the appearance of the worms in Yucatan, we 

 extract from our correspondence: 



United States Consulate at Merida, 



November 22, 1879. 



The culture of cotton is very slight here. It is cultivated only in the southern part 

 of this city, and in very small quantity; it grows to the height of 12 feet. No other 

 insect enemies are known but the worm, and this worm is exactly as described ; that 

 is, a green worm with white lines and black dots. This worm is always on the cotton 

 leaf, and there is no doubt that eating the leaf it kills the plant. It does not touch 

 the boll, as it remains always on the leaf. If possible I will send specimens. 



Cotton has been growing here for more than sixteen years and grows wild, but it is 

 inferior to the cultivated plant. The prevailing direction of winds during March, 

 April, June, and July is generally southeast. — [M. Ceballos, U. S. Vice-Consul. 



