8 



BOLL WEEVIL. 



3,000,000, it can readily be seen that only a small per cent of those 

 that go into winter quarters need survive in order to give the 

 farmer a large amount of trouble. 



With the coming of the, early spring the weevils begin to emerge 

 and seek food after their, long winter nap. The young cotton just 

 appearing above ground is likely to be attacked. Unless the plants 

 are strong and hardy, many of them will be killed, and this killing 

 of young plants is the first indication of the season that weevils are 

 present. The weevils suck also the tender shoots and young leaves 

 of the cotton plants until the first squares appear. These constitute 

 the favorite food of the weevil, and many of the squares are killed 

 or are badly deformed by injury to feeding punctures. 



Fig. 1. — Cotton square showing egg puncture o( boll weevil and " flaring " of bracts. 

 Natural size. (Author's illustration.) 



As soon as the young squares form, the female weevils also begin 

 to puncture them and to lay eggs in the hole. The flaring of the- 

 leaflets of the square, which under ordinary conditions close tightly 

 around the bud, is a symptom that there is an egg in the square. 



The average time for the egg to hatch out is about four days. The 

 larva, which emerges from the egg in the form of a small white grub, 

 feeds upon the inside of the square, and in seven or eight days is 

 ready to change to the pupa stage. In another seven or eight days 

 it is ready to emerge as a fully grown weevil and ready for its life's 



