J REARING LARV# ON PROLIFEROUS FOOD. 35 
CONCLUSIONS. 
Several important and obvious conclusions may be drawn from the 
results of the artificial stimulation of proliferation. Proliferation in 
buds and bolls does not depend essentially for its stimulation upon 
insect injury of any particular kind. It becomes unnecessary to assume 
that any irritating secretion is deposited by the weevil with the egg. 
It has been shown conclusively that proliferation may occur entirely 
apart from weevil presence. Proliferation may result from a large 
number of causes, of which the following are noted in this bulletin: 
Weevil feeding punctures, weevil egg punctures, injury by the larva 
during its feeding period, bollworm punctures, square-borer punctures, 
feeding punctures of various bugs, fungous attacks in insect punctures, 
anthracnose, and artificial punctures of the bud or boll. 
MANNER IN WHICH PROLIFERATION CAUSES DEATH OF 
WEEVIL STAGES. 
REARING LARVZ ON PURELY PROLIFEROUS FOOD. 
In order to determine whether proliferation caused the death of 
larve by starving or poisoning them, numerous experiments have been 
performed. Unhatched eggs and larve just hatched have been placed 
in the midst of masses of purely proliferous formation; and these have 
been kept in a tight, moist chamber and transferred to fresh masses 
of proliferation as frequently as necessary to preserve proper condi- 
tions for the larve. In spite of these frequent transferences and the 
somewhat unnatural conditions necessary, it was found that but a very 
small proportion of the larvee died. In some cases the growth was 
completed in masses of proliferation which were completely decayed. 
This condition was allowed to exist in order to test the effect of what 
seemed the most unfavorable food conditions it was possible to pro- 
duce so far as quality was concerned. In one series of experiments 8 
very young larve were placed in fresh proliferous masses. Of these, 1 
died on the first day, but all others reached full growth and pupated 
normally in from nine to twelve days, having fed on nothing but pro- 
liferous material. 
_ In another series 8 larvee just hatched were started in locks in which 
dead full-grown larve had been found entirely enveloped by the pro- 
liferation. Surely if proliferation were poisonous, this test should 
prove it, since in each case a larva had been previously killed in the 
lock given each young larva for food. 
One larva was accidentally killed in examining the material on the 
fourth day. One larva completed its growth and pupated in the lock 
in which it was originally placed. Two died and the remaining 4 
also pupated after being transferred to fresh locks from which dead 
larvee were previously taken. Under these most unpromising condi- 
