COTTON INSECTS 



407 



Cotton stalks should not be burned except where this 

 course is recommended as a necessity in fighting the cotton 

 boll-weevil. Then extra pains must be taken to compen- 

 sate for the loss by introducing into the rotation at short 

 intervals some humus-forming crop. 



Insects of Minob Importance 



375. The cowpea-pod weevil {Chalcodermis mneus). — 

 This is a small black beetle or weevil, with a long snout 

 and marked with numerous tiny pits, or depressions (Fig. 

 179). It injures the 

 young plants, espe- 

 cially the growing ter- 

 minal buds and the 

 young stems. As the 

 plant grows larger 

 this insect ceases to 

 attack cotton. 



This is the insect 

 most frequently mis- 

 taken for the boll- 

 weevil. Conspicuous 

 differences exist in the shiny, black _ color and pitted 

 appearance of the cowpea-pod weevil, in contrast with 

 the brownish or grayish appearance of the boll-weevil, 

 which is not conspicuously pitted. 



Injury to cotton by the cowpea-pod weevil usually 

 starts in areas where the previous crop was cowpeas. 

 Hence, in some localities where this pest is a serious one, 

 it may be desirable to change the rotation that is generally 



Fig. 179. — Cowpea-pod Weevil. 



