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tobacco T HR IPS 
The tobacco thrips did not apuear in any numbers in the tobacco fields of 
the Connecticut River Valley until early in July, As usual, individuals could 
be observed on tobacco plants within a short time after the plants were set, 
especially on those near grass borders. Populations and damage were loss than 
usual, however, until immediately prior to the harvesting of the crop. Un- 
usually dry weather at this time enabled the thrips to cause somewhat more than 
normal injury in some fields, (A. W. Morrill, Jr,, Bureau of Entomology and 
Plant Quarantine, U, S, D. A.) 
Spring infestations of Frankliniella fuse a. Hinds appeared to be about nor- 
mal in the Florida-Georgia tobacco district, but the later generations were of 
small proportions, owing to the abundant rains, Thrips injury, which is con- 
fined to shade-grown tobacco, was of little economic importance this year, 
(F. S, Chamberlin, Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, U. S, D. A.) 
BOLL WEEVIL 
The cycle of comparatively snail loss caused by the boll weevil during the 
last several years continued in 1940 along the Atlantic seaboard but changed 
upward in other sections. Light defoliations by thoacotton leaf worn allowed 
weevils to continue developing late in the season and above-normal numbers to 
enter hibernation in the fall of 1939 • However, the expected heavy carry-over 
of weevils into 1940 was fortunately checked by the unusually low temperatures 
during January, At Tallulah, La.,, there were freezing temperatures for 20 
successive days and a, minimum of -8° F. liras the coldest over recorded at that 
locality. Practically all weevils hibernating in Spanish moss, cornstalks, and 
similar open shelter we re killed. The emergence in hibernation cages was only 
0,01 percent, the lowest ever recorded. Ho live weevils were found in the • 
spring examination of Spanish moss collected from woods near cottonfields in 
several sections of the State, At Florence, S. C., with a minimum, temperature 
of 13° F. , the survival was 0.0S percent. Lower temperatures and survival 
occurred at Florence in 13j6. The survival in cages at Leesburg, Fla,, was 11 
percent, and at Waco, Tex,, 0,09 percent. Previous records are not available 
for comparison at the latter places. However, weevils hibernating in surfa.ee 
trash were protected from the cold by a heavy covering of snow over a large 
part of tho Cotton Belt, and examinations of woods trash from near cottonfields 
showed that weevils had survived in protected places. Trash examination at 
Tallulah showed an average of 2,243 weevils per acre in the fall of 1939 and 
190 in the spring of 1940, 'or a survival of 8,5 percent, as compared with 15 
percent in 1939* Similar examinations at Florence in the spring of 1940 showed 
176 live weevils per acre, in comparison with 3»5S2 in 1939 • In general, the 
unusually cold weather reduced the weevil carry-over in 1940 to tho lowest 
point in many years, and damage continued to be very light in North Carolina., 
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and parts of Alabama and Mississippi. In 
other sections of Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas unseasonably heavy rains 
retarded the cotton crop and, despite the light carry-over, heavy populations 
of weevils developed late in the season anc 1 caused severe damage. At Tallulah, 
La,, the increased yields from plots dusted with calcium arsenate for weevil 
control was 54.7 percent, or the greatest since 1926, when it was 68.3 percent. 
