18 
as trap crops, cutting off and burning the racemes when well stocked 
with Boll Worm eggs. In those portions of Texas which are subject to 
early and continued drought this method may be even more success- 
ful than that of trap corn. 
Tomatoes. — The fruit of this plant is bored in tie same manner as 
the cotton boll, as already discussed in Bulletin 24 of this Division. 
The worm also bores into the stems, sometimes cutting them nearly off 
in so doing. The damage is usually ascribed to cut- worms, and in the 
majority of cases, properly. Occasionally, after having eaten to the 
pith of the stem the larva goes downward, hollowing it out as it goes. 
This causes the portion of the plant above the point of injury to wilt or 
break and die. This sometimes happens to the central trunk of the 
plant and the whole of it is then ruined. 
Other Food-plants. — Cowpeas and the pods of various kinds of beans 
and peas, are often found eaten full of holes, and the peas and beans 
devoured. Cucumbers, cantaloupes, and small watermelons, and okra 
pods are occasionally bored, but the attack is not general or extensive. 
Mr. W. J. Holland, Brewton, Ala., reports their boring into and feed- 
ing upon the stems of Collard. Bed-pepper pods are occasionally de- 
stroyed. The wild Ground Cherry (Phy sails pubescens) quite commonly 
has its berries eaten by this insect. In the vicinity of Mount Lebanon, 
La., Mr. T. W. Vaughau reports that during September fully one-half 
of the pods borne by the plants had been ravaged by it. Late in the 
season volunteer sorghum plants are often found with riddled leaves, 
some of which may be due to boll-worm attack, but in the majority of 
cases is attributable to cut- worms. A large Abutilon plant in an orna- 
mental flower garden was freely deposited upon by Heliothis, nearly every 
flower bud and some of the leaves bearing an egg or two. The young 
larvae did not relish this food-plant, and deserted it almost immediately. 
Probably the majority perished before finding suitable food. The leaves 
and very young flower buds of the Jamestown Weed (Datura stramon- 
ium) are sometimes eaten, as also the fruits of the Cockle Burr (Xan- 
thium struma rium). The burs are attacked while very young and just 
forming, the usual method of injury being to eat into the tender pedun- 
cles bearing them. Some of the host-plants enumerated for the Boll 
Worm are doubtless accidental, for the larvas do not thrive upon them. 
CHARACTERS AND TRANSFORMATIONS. 
These have been treated at some length in Bulletin 24 of this Divi- 
sion and only a few additional observations will be noted in this con- 
nection. 
LARVA. 
A marking not found in all specimens is a pinkish or pale orange 
colored spot on each segment at the upper edge of the subdorso-lateral 
stripe. The color may be inconstant for the same individual. For 
