34 HIBERNATION OF THE COTTON BOLL WEEVIL. 



(AGE EXPERIMENTS OF 1902-3. 



In the experiments made during the season of 1902-3 most of the 

 weevils used were collected in the field at Victoria, Tex., about the 

 middle of December. Some, however, were reared weevils which 

 during the months of September and October previous had become 

 adult. They were confined in boxes and jars covered with cheese 

 cloth. Various kinds of rubbish were placed in the cages, some of 

 which were placed in the fields and some in a building. 



These cages were all examined between April 15 and 30, 1903. 

 Among the 25 lots tested, including 356 weevils, it was found that 

 an average of about 11 per cent had survived. None of those which 

 were adult before November 1 was living on April 15, while nearly 

 16 per cent of those taken in the field about the middle of December 

 were still alive on April 27. A slightly higher percentage had sur- 

 vived in the inside tests, and it appears that a considerable degree 

 of dryness favored survival. One-half of all the weevils surviving 

 were found in the folds of dead banana leaves on April 15, while the 

 balance were scattered among hay, dried cotton leaves, empty bolls, 

 and in or under earth. 



(AGE EXPERIMENTS OF 1903-4. 



During the season of 1903-4 450 weevils were tested in lots of 

 about 50 each. From October 21 to December 16 one or more lots 

 were started each week, part of them being placed outdoors and 

 part indoors. In addition to the confinement of adults, about 400 

 infested squares were picked from the ground about November 15 

 and kept until the following March. These squares were examined 

 on March 18. It was found that most of the stages had perished 

 while yet larvae. Nearly one-fifth of the squares contained dead 

 adults. In the lot among 128 stages there was one adult winch was 

 still alive. 



Examination in April, 1904, accounted for all but 15 of the 450 

 weevils confined, but one weevil was found alive, and that one was 

 placed in hibernation on October 29 in a cage out of doors. The 

 results during this season seem to contradict in some respects those 

 obtained during the preceding year, which indicated the favorable 

 nature of inside shelter. 



CAGE EXPERIMENTS OF 1904-5. 



The work of the season of 1904-5 was planned to include a number 

 of localities representing in a general way the various portions of the 

 weevil-infested area. In all eases the cages consisted of boxes about 

 1 by 2 feet in size and covered with 14-mesh galvanized-wire screen- 



