THE PINK BOLLWOIIM 
that a female will deposit in the neighborhood of 100 eggs. These 
hatch in from 4 to 12 days. 
The larva, on hatching, proceeds to bore its way into either a 
square or a boll. Squares are preferred early in the season, before 
the green bolls have become three-fourths grown. The square, 
even though it contains a larva, usually develops into a bloom. If 
the larva has attained nearly full development before the bloom 
opens it webs the ends of the petals together, and on opening they 
do not flare out normally; the bloom presents a rosetted appearance 
and is easily distinguished as infested. The infested bolls some- 
times become recognizable by a 
reddish or blackened discoloration 
which follows attack. Close ex- 
amination will also reveal the small 
entrance holes of the larvae. But 
the only conclusive evidence of in- 
festation is the larva within the boll, 
as disclosed by dissection. 
The food of the larva is the seed 
within the boll. It devours one 
seed and generally proceeds to the 
next one above. Ordinarily a single 
larva does not make its way out- 
side of the lock which . it first in- 
vades, but occasionally the adjoining 
lock may be entered. It is to be 
noted that the larva restricts itself 
to the interior of the boll and never 
makes its way to the outside for the 
purpose of reaching another boll. 
During the summer the full-grown FlG . 8 ._ Pink bo iiworm on carpel of 
larva either cuts a hole in the outer cotton boii, which shows also typical 
i ii ii # .<■ n hole made by worm while travel- 
boll Wall tor the emergence Of ing from one lock to the next 
the moth and pupates immediately 
under it, or drops to the soil and pupates within the surface 
layer of soil or under trash on the surface. In the fall the majority 
of the larvse remain in the bolls for hibernation. Often the larva 
protects itself by webbing two seeds together, the attachment being 
made to the openings brought into contact by the insect. These 
" double seeds " are characteristic of the work of the insect. Since 
usually they are not destroyed in the process of ginning, they fur- 
nish the best means of determining quickly whether any lot of seeds 
is infested. 
During the summer the larval stage occupies from 20 to 30 days. 
Late in the season this stage may be more or less indefinitely pro- 
longed, and pupation correspondingly delayed (9, p. 9). It is this 
feature in the life history of the pest which has facilitated its car- 
riage to many remote quarters of the earth. As this longevity is 
one of the most important points in the life history of the insect a 
summary of the existing records concerning it is given in Table 1. 
72237°— 26 2 
