na 



and a few localities in Central America, was accidentally introduced into Haiti 

 about 1932 and had become a major pest of perennial cotton by 1935. Before its 

 introduction, the annual export of cotton from Jacmal over a period of 9 

 years averaged about 1,400,000 lbs., but since 1932 the amount has fallen steadily 

 and was only about 256,000 lbs. in 1935-36. A similar decrease in production has 

 resulted in other infested districts. Owing to strict quarantine regulations, in- 

 festations has not yet spread to all the cotton growing districts, though it is im- 

 possible to eradicate the weevil or prevent its spreading in the direction of the 

 prevailing winds. Perennial cotton produces fresh green leaves, on which the 

 adult weevils feed, for almost the entire year, and so completely shares the 

 ground between the rows that the immature stages in fallen bolls and squares are 

 not killed by the heat of the sun. 



The production of squares is largely confined to 2 months, but sufficient 

 numbers are produced outside this period to allow the weevil a much longer phase 

 of reproduction than do strains of American upland cotton specially selected for a 

 short season. The Haitian strains of perennial cotton are, however, very resistant 

 to the pink bollworm ( Platyedra gossypiella , Saund.). Infestations of this pest do 

 not normally exceed 1-2 percent, even at the very end of the picking season. It 

 has been suggested that they should be replaced by an annual short season type, 

 but it is possible that A. grandis may eliminate the strains susceptible to its 

 attack, just as P. gossypiella has eliminated imported varieties. 



1940 - Campbell, Roy E. Studies of aerial activities of insects. J. Econ. Ent. 33(4):710. 

 Insects caught at high altitudes on traps attached to aeroplanes in Louisia 

 and Mexico included boll weevils at 2,000 feet, spotted cucumber beetles 

 ( Diabrotica duodecempunctata F.) at 3,000 feet, and leafhoppers at 13,000 feet. 



1940 - Ceasar, L. Fifty years of entomological progress, part II, 1899 to 1909. J. Econ. 

 Ent. 33(1):17-18. 



The cotton boll weevil, by 1899, had become so abundant and caused so great 

 damage--about $25,000,000 a year--to cotton fields that it was clearly seen that, 

 if no effective control could be devised, the growing of cotton would soon have 

 to be abandoned. This would have meant bankruptcy and indescribable suffering 

 to the South, for cotton was their great crop and the source of by far the greater 

 part of their income. 



Under these conditions, the Bureau of Entomology, in 1901, began one of the 

 best planned and most extensive investigations of all time and carried it out just 

 as thoroughly as it had been planned. Before the end of the decade so much 

 progress had been made that Dr. W. D. Hunter and Dr. W. E. Hinds were able 

 to demonstrate on a large scale to the growers that by adopting certain cultural 

 practices, especially planting early maturing varieites and harvesting the same 

 early in the fall and destroying all stalks and remnants, the South could continue 

 indefinitely to grow cotton at a profit in spite of the weevil. This discovery gave 

 hope and courage to the farmers and at the same time gradually brought about 

 much better and more diversified methods of farming in the affected areas. 



The thoroughness of the investigation also helped greatly in the way of 

 progress by serving as a great example and inspiration to other entomologists 

 to plan and carry out their investigations with greater care, and especially to take 

 into account more fully than before climatic and all other environmental factors; 

 for it was largely by close attention to these that it had been possible to work out 

 the control. 



1940 - Marlatt, C. L. Fifty years of entomological progress, Part I, 1889 to 1939 

 Cotton Boll Weevil. J. Econ. Ent. 33(1):13-14. 



The entry into Texas of the Mexican cotton boll weevil was discovered in 

 1894. That this insect occurred in and was very destructive to cotton in Mexico 

 was brought to Dr. C. V. Riley's attention some 9 years earlier (1885) by 

 Dr. Palmer, a biological explorer, who had been working for some time in 

 Mexico. Dr. Palmer reported that the depredations of the insect had led to the 

 abandonment of cotton at various points in that country, and particularly in the 



171 



