104 
AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 
with black. The thighs of the fore-legs are somewhat spiny near 
the tibiae, and of a red color. The tibiae and tarsi are black ; the 
under part of the body is bright-red, with rings of yellowish-white 
running around it, on the edge of each segment. 
The female produces about one hundred eggs ; the young larva is 
completely red, almost scarlet, with distinct whitish-yellow bands 
around the body, on the edge of each segment. The thighs are red, 
with the tibiae, tarsi, and antennae blackish. 
The pupa differs only in size, and in having the unformed wing- 
cases very small and black, contrasting strongly with the vivid red 
of the body. 
The perfect male is about three-fifths of an inch in length, and the 
female about seven-tenths of an inch, from the head to the end of the 
abdomen. They are similar in shape and color, differing only in 
size. The head and eyes are red, the antennae black, with four long 
joints. 
The following communication on the subject of this insect was re- 
ceived from Mr. B. Hopkins, of Jacksonville, a practical Sea-Island 
planter, of nearly thirty years experience: — 
“The ‘red-bugs,’ or, as they are sometimes properly denominated, 
the ‘cotton-stainers,’ generally make their appearance about August, 
or late in July, which is near the usual season for cotton to begin to 
open. They can readily be distinguished from other bugs, harmloss 
in their nature, by their being of a red color, and more sluggish in 
their movements. The nearer the fruit advances towards maturity, 
the more injury they do to the cotton. The pod, or boll, is perforated 
by this bug. Whether the staining matter is imparted to the fibre 
of the cotton during the perforation directly, or by a slow process dif- 
fusing itself with the sap abounding at that time in the pod, is not 
yet ascertained. I am of the latter opinion, from the fact that almost 
the entire product of the boll is discolored when it opens, which does 
not seem at all to cause a premature development. As winter ap- 
proaches, they gradually retire, and take refuge among the logs, or 
burrow into the soil at the root of the cotton-plant, where they hyber- 
nate. After a wet season, in winter, they may be found in hundreds 
on the sunny side of the stalks, enjoying the genial atmosphere, until 
towards evening, when they again retire. They can be kept down very 
easily, when there are not more than five acres planted to the hand. 
“ I have been in the habit of offering a reward every night to the 
negro that brings in the greatest quantity, each of whom is furnished 
with a pint bottle suspended across the shoulders, into which, as they 
pass along picking the cotton, they deposit all they can discover. In 
many instances, I have seen the bottle filled by one negro in a day. 
They may also be greatly reduced, by destroying them when they 
come out in winter, in their half-torpid state ; a torch of fire in that 
case is host. They may be buried a foot under ground, and most 
of them will still escape from their inhumation. If there should be 
stumps or trees in the fields, they should be burned, and that will 
generally reduce the quantity for a year or more. In fact, when they 
receive timely and proper attention, they need not be dreaded. 
“ No process that 1 know of can extract the stain produced in the 
