THE PINK BOLLWORM. 
not !>e estimated. Wherever the pest is found, however, it is con 
sidered to be an insect of great Importance. Tn Egypt in jDIo, ac- 
cording to Gough and Storey,' the pink bollworm did more dam 
than all other cotton pests combined. In the Hawaiian Islands, 
where the pest was introduced within the last few years, it has spread 
rapidly and has becomo by far the most important enemy of cotton. 
FOOD PLANTS. 
It is quite evident from the accounts given by different writers 
that all varieties of cotton are attacked by the pink bollworm. 
Careful experiments conducted in India 
failed to reveal even the slightest indi- 
cations of varietal resistance to the boll- 
worm. It is therefore practically certain 
that if introduced into this country it 
would attack the Sea Island as well as 
all of the upland strains of American 
cotton. 
Occasionally the pink bollworm appears 
to attack other plants. In the Hawaiian 
Islands, Fulla way reared it from Thespesia 
populnea. In Egypt, Dudgeon 2 records 
"til" (a species of Sesamia) and pome- 
granates as occasional food plants. 
LIFE HISTORY. 
The eggs of the moth of the pink boll- 
worm, which hatch in about 10 days, are 
deposited singly on various parts of the 
cotton plant. The minute larvae feed on 
the leaf surface for a short time but very 
soon penetrate to the interior of the cot ton 
bolls, or "squares." The insect spends 
about 20 days in this stage, becoming in its 
mature larval form (fig. 1) about half an inch long. The general color 
is pink, from which the popular name is derived. In this stage it 
feeds largely upon the seeds, and when ready to transform to the 
pupa occupies the hull from which the kernel has been devoured. In 
examining Egyptian cotton received in this country the larvae were 
frequently found to have caused two seeds to adhere closely together. 
In fact it seems to be a definite habit of the larva in the last stage to 
form a cell of two hulls. This, however, does not seem to be an inva- 
FiG. 5. — Pink bollworm: Moth, or 
adult, dorsal view. Much enlarged. 
(Original.) 
1 Methods for the destruction of the pink bollworm in cotton seed. Ministry of cotton culture, Cairo, 1914, 
P.I- 
» Agricultural Journal of Egypt, vol. 2, pt. 2, 1913, p. 4. 
