64 PAPERS OX THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL. ETC. 



the Department from Edgar, Tex. On March 1. 1906, the writer 

 found larvae in the stems of Ambrosia and Helianthus at.Flatonia. 

 Tex. It has been reported breeding in cotton from Bexar and San 

 Diego. Tex., and the writer found it in October. 1905. breeding in this 

 plant at Yoakum. Sublime, and Victoria, and in November at Alice. 

 Tex. The adult has been reported from peach and apricot, but there 

 are no records to show that it injures either of these plants. Leng 

 and Hamilton state that specimens were found boring in dry twigs of 

 box elder (Acer negundo) and hackberry. 



LIFE HISTORY. 



Very little work has been done upon the life history of this species. 

 The egg i^ laid upon the host plant and the larva upon hatching bores 

 into the bark or wood of the plant, where it feeds until full grown, 

 pupates, and rinally. when adult, cuts its way out. The winter is very 

 probably past in any of the three stages of larva, pupa, or adult, for 

 it has been reported by Mr. E. A. Sehwarz as emerging in May. 1897, 

 from a stalk of cotton cut in December. 1^96. In October. 1905. the 

 writer found the insect in cotton stalks in all stages of development 

 from the very small larva to the adult ready to emerge from the stalk. 



In southwest Texas, where the winters are very mild, it is very 

 likely that development proceeds slowly all winter long, except in the 

 most severe winter-, when it would probably cea>e for a few week.-. 



INJURY AND ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. 



Rarely has the cotton stalk-borer been reported, and in no case has 

 serious damage been ascribed to it. Altho it was described by Say 

 as early a- 1832, no mention is made of it in economic literature until 

 1896, and since that time only hve short notes have been made, all of 

 which are apparently based upon Dr. L. O. Howard's first published 

 notice in 1896, which reads as follows: 



There is but one borer in the stalks of cotton, and that is the long-horned beetle 

 known as Ataxia, crypta (Say). It is occasionally mistaken for an enemy of the 

 plant, but investigation has shown that it lays its eggs upon, and its larva? bore into, 

 only such stalks as have been damaged by some other cause, such as rust. It follows 

 injury to the plant rather than causes it. 



The rather o-eneral occurrence of this insect at Yoakum. Tex., in 

 1905 has made it seem advisable to publish this more extended note. 

 Twenty -six fields were examined in this locality, and showed that from 

 5 to 10 per cent of the stalks were infested by this insect. One field 

 had 20 to 25 per cent of its stalks injured by the borer. It is to be 

 regretted that the discovery of this infested locality was not made 

 earlier in the season, so that a more conclusive study could have been 

 made. 



