REPORT' OF J. C. BRANNER. 
[51 J 
some definite information upon this subject, but none of the prominent members in 
the city knew of Mich insects. In Babia alone, after having finished the field-work, 
did I find one gentleman, Dr. Antonio de Lacerda, who had, at the request of Prof. 
C. V. Riley, bred one of the moths from ■ caterpillar found upon a cotton plant in the 
suburbs of that city. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
The time of the appearance of the caterpillars depends upon when the first rains of 
the winter season set in. and their abundance or scarcity depends upon the regularity 
or irregularity of the rains. They appear at the setting in of winter every year in 
greater or less numbers, but it is the universal testimony of cotton planters that the 
seasons in which winters set in early, and in which one, two, or three weeks of rain 
are followed by from a week to a month of sunshine,* are the ones in which the cat- 
erpillars do their greatest injury. t 
As has already been observed, the beginning of the rains is not perfectly regular, 
as it sometimes varies a month or two one way or the other. In the province of Per- 
nambuco, and through those provinces which border upon it, it is generally expected 
that the caterpillars will do their greatest injurj during the months of April oi May, 
for it is generally In these months that there is a temporary cessation of the regular 
winter rains. They appear, though, in small numbers much earlier, even in the 
month of January,} and it is possible that in some localities and under circumstances 
la \<>i able to them they may do great injury as early as that month. If, however, the 
rains of the early part of winter are regular, and there is no interval of dry weather, 
caterpillars will not appear in numbers sufficient to do any serious injury to the cot- 
ton crop. 
The duration of this pest also depends upon the weather; that is. upon the length 
of the rcraniro, or short, dry season. To the difference in the length of the reranivo is 
probably due the difference in the duration of the caterpillars as L, r iv< n by the answers 
to the circular. According to these answers the length of this short, dry season varies 
from one week to three months. 
It is the universal testimony of the planters that w hen the regular heavy rains of 
winter begin, the caterpillars disappear. If, however, the rains do not conic on 
shortly after their appearance, the plants are completely defoliated, and even the 
tender twigs, the young bolls, and sometimes the tender hark ot* the plants, are de- 
voured, having the field as bare as if if had been burned. It is said that when they 
appear in large numbers, one can hear the sound of their gnawing the leaves, and 
their excrement emits a characteristic odor which may be distinguished at a consid- 
able distance. 
No observations that can be relied OpOfl have been mad- in regard to the lands of 
soil on which the caterpillars first appear, or which they prefer or avolVl. I bare 
been told by several persons that they are not .so likely to appear in fields new iy 
planted, and which have just been burned over, a fact which they attribute to the 
presence of the ashes on the soil. Some affirm also that they prefer high ground, 
others thai they prefer lowlands: some say rich and some say poor ground. The 
only indication that they prefer plants growing upon good soil is the fact that the 
planters of ^ao Paulo planted their cotton on j r or wornout lands, rather than ex- 
pose it to the ravages of the caterpillars on the best soil.$ 
During the stay at Bonito, in the province of Pernambuco, we first found the eggs 
and larvie on the lower and more moist ground ; later there seemed to be no appre- 
ciable difference in the numbers found on low or high ground. 
It is said that the younger plants are the ones that sutler most from the ravages of 
those insects, and when they appear shortly after the cotton has started from the 
ground, they eat the plants up entirely, and render replanting necessary, while the 
plants already grown, and above all the old tree-cotton plants, sutler comparatively 
much less. The injury done the young plants is so great in some parts of the country 
that, rather than run the risk of losing their whole planting, cotton growers do not 
plan! at the beginning of, or before, the rainy season sets in, but wait until the end 
of the short, dry season, or till the time of danger is past. 
* This season is (ailed vcravico (diminutive ofrerdo — summer)iu the Portuguese, and 
corresponds to our Indian summer* 
tSuch weather is favorable to the appearance of all hibernating insects in Brazil. 
When the rainy season sets in insects come out at once in large numbers. They are, 
therefore, most abundant in March, April, and May, and during those months they are 
often very annoying at night, flying into rooms, when attracted by lights, in great 
numbers. When we reached Bonito, in the province of Pernambuco, in the early 
part of January, insects were comparatively very scarce, and when we left, toward 
the end of February, they were much more plentiful. 
+ The fust eggs and young caterpillar were found by Mr. Koebele at Bonito, in the 
province of Pernambuco, January 8, 1833. 
§ This note was taken by Mr. W. T. Gepp in the province of Sao Paulo in 1876, 
from a prominent planter. 
