HARMFUL INSECTS 363 



is the cotton-boll weevil. Imported from Mexico, since 1892 it 

 has spread over nearly the entire cotton-growing area of the South. 

 \\niere '' cotton was king " before the days of the Civil War, many 

 Southern farmers have been forced to produce other crops in the 

 place of cotton. An example is seen in the decrease of production 

 of the once famous sea island cotton. As late as 1916, 117,559 

 bales were produced ; in 1924 the record gave only 5 bales ginned. 

 The beetle lays its eggs in the young cotton fruit or boll, and the 

 larvse feed upon the substance within the boll, thus causing it to 

 drop off and, consequently, produce no cotton fiber. It is esti- 

 mated that this pest destroys yearly one half of the 

 cotton crop, thus indirectly affecting each one 

 of us through the increased price of cotton 

 goods. The boll weevil, because of the protec- 

 tion offered by the cotton boll, is very difficult 

 to exterminate. Some weevils are destroyed Cotton-boll weevil : 

 by birds, the infected bolls and stalks are burned, ^^"^^ ^^^ ^^^^*- 

 millions are killed each winter by cold, other insects are introduced 

 to prey on them, but at the present time they are one of the 

 greatest pests the South knows. 



The control of this pest seems to depend upon early planting so 

 that the crop has an opportunity to ripen before the insects in the 

 boll grow large enough to do harm. Various state and govern- 

 ment agencies are at work upon the problem, and ultimately the 

 boll weevil may do more good than harm by bringing about the 

 culture of a type of cotton plant that ripens very early. 



The bugs are among our most destructive insects. The most 

 familiar examples of our garden pests are the squash bug; the 

 chinch bug, which yearly does damage estimated at $20,000,000, by 

 sucking the juice from the leaves of grain ; and the plant lice, or 

 aphids. The dreaded phylloxera living on the grape, destroys 

 immense numbers of vines in the vineyards of France, Germany, 

 and California. 



Insects which harm Fruit and Forest Trees. — Great damage is 

 done to trees by the larvae of moths. Massachusetts has already 

 spent more than $5,000,000 in trying to exterminate the accident- 

 ally imported gypsy moth. The codling moth, which bores into 

 apples and pears, is estimated to ruin yearly $3,000,000 worth of 



