REPORT OF J. C. BRANNER. [61] 



some definite informatiou upon tliis subject, but none of the prominent members in 

 the city knew of such insects. In Bahia alone, after having finished the field-work, 

 did I find one gentleman, Dr. Antonio de Lacerda, who had, at the reqfest of Prof. 

 C. V. Riley, bred one of the moths from a caterpillar found upon a cotton plant in the 

 suburbs of that city. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



The time of the appearance of the caterpillars depends upon when the first rains of 

 the winter season set in, and their abundance or scarcity depends upon the regularity 

 or irregularity of the rains. They appear at the setting in of winter every year in 

 greater or less numbers, but it is the universal testimony of cotton planters that the 

 seasons in which winters set in early, and in which one, two, or three weeks of rain 

 are followed by from a week to a month of sunshine,* are the ones in which the cat- 

 erpillars do their greatest injury. t 



As has already been observed, the beginning of the rains is not perfectly regular, 

 as it sometimes varies a month or two one way or the other. In the province of Per- 

 nambuco, and through those provinces which border upon it, it is generally expected 

 that the caterpillars will do their greatest injury during the months of April or May, 

 for it is generally in these months that there is a temporary cessation of the regular 

 winter rains. They appear, though, in small numbers much earlier, even in the 

 month of January,^ and it is possible that in some localities and under circumstances 

 favorable to them they may do great injury as early as that month. If, however, the 

 rains of the early part of winter are regular, and there is no interval of dry weather, 

 caterpillars will not appear in numbers sufficient to do any serious injury to the cot- 

 ton crop. * 



The duration of this pest also depends upon the weather; that is, upon the length 

 of the veranico, or short, dry season. To the diiference in the length of the veranico is 

 probably due the difference in the duration of the caterpillars as given by the answers 

 to the circular. According to these answers the length of this short, dry season varies 

 from one week to three months. 



It is the imiversal testimony of the planters that when the regular heavy rains of 

 winter begin, the caterpillars disappear. If, however, the rains do not come on 

 shortly after their appearance, the plants are completely defoliated, and even the 

 tender twigs, the young bolls, and sometimes the tender bark of the plants, are de- 

 voured, leaving the field as bare as if it had been burned. It is said that when they 

 appear in large numbers, one can hear the sound of their gnawing the leaves, and 

 their excrement emits a characteristic odor which may be distinguished at a cousid- 

 able distance. 



No observations that can be relied upon have been made in regard to the kinds of 

 soil on which the caterpillars first appear, or which they prefer or avoid. I have 

 been told by several persons that they are not so likely to appear in fields newly 

 planted, and which have just been burned over, a fact which they attribute to the 

 presence of the ashes on the soil. Some affirm also that they prefer high ground, 

 others that they prefer lowlands ; some say rich and some say poor ground. The 

 only indication that they prefer plants growing upon good soil is the fact that the 

 planters of Sao Paulo planted their cotton on poor or wornoat lands, rather than ex- 

 pose it to the ravages of the caterpillars on the best soil.^ 



During the stay at Bonito, in the province of Pernambuco, we first found the eggs 

 and larvEe on the lower and more moist ground ; later there seemed to be no appre- 

 ciable difference in the numbers found on low or high ground. 



It is said that the younger plants are the ones that suffer most from the ravages of 

 those insects, and when they appear shortly after the cotton has started from the 

 ground, they eat the plants up entirely, and render replanting necessary, while the 

 plants already grown, and above all the old tree-cotton plants, suffer comparatively 

 much less. The injury done the young plants is so great in some parts of the country 

 that, rather than run the risk of losing their whole planting, cotton growers do not 

 plant" at the beginning of, or before, the rainy season sets in, but wait until the end 

 of the short, dry season, or till the time of danger is past. 



* This season is called veranico (diminutive of verdo — summer) in the Portuguese, and 

 corresponds to our Indian summer. 



tSuch weather is favorable to the appearance of all hibernating insects in Brazil. 

 When the rainy season sets in insects come out at once in large numbers. They are, 

 therefore, most abundant in March, April, and May, and during those months they are 

 often very annoying at night, flying into rooms, when attracted by lights, in great 

 numbers. When we reached Bonito, in the province of Pernambuco, in the early 

 part of January, insects were comparatively very scarce, and when we left, toward 

 the end of February, they were much more plentiiul. 



X The first eggs and young caterpillar were found by Mr. Koebele at Bonito, in the 

 province of Pernambuco, January 8, 1833. 



§ This note was taken by Mr. W. T. Gepp in the province of Sao Paulo in 1876, 

 from a prominent planter. 



