DISEASES OF THE COTTON PLANT. 193 
worms in the terminal shoots, but, upon examination, I 
have generally found the egg deposited upon the outer 
calyx of a young bud or boll, the parenchyma, or tender 
succulent substance, of which was mostly eaten, and the 
young bud pierced or its contents sucked or eaten out. 
INSECTS FOUND ON THE FLOWER, 
The flower of the short-staple cotton is of a yellowish- 
white color the first day of its blooming ; it then gradually 
assumes a pinkish tinge toward its outer edge; the second 
day it partially closes, turns pink, and presents such an en- 
tirely different appearance that it can scarcely be recognized 
as the same flower. 
There are several insects which infest this flower, or 
" bloom," as it is frequently termed, some for the sake of 
the nectar, or honey ; others for the pollen ; and a few for 
the corolla itself. 
The Blistee-Fly. — {Cantharis strigosa.) 
Several blister-flies, or cantharides, found in Columbia^ 
South Carolina, were seen to devour the petals of the cot- 
ton flower. One of these insects is a little more than half 
an inch in length, of a reddish-brown color, with the eyea 
and a spot on the head black. Two long black marks are 
seen on the thorax, and two longitudinal stripes, also black„ 
on each wing-case ; the legs and antennae are black ; and 
the abdomen protrudes somewhat beyond the wing-cases. 
Some of them are smaller than others, measuring not 
quite half an inch in length, and are of a rusty ash-gray 
white; others are of the same color, but with two broad, 
longitudinal black stripes on the elytrae. The two last 
9 
