236 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. II, No. 3 
or less feeding in this series almost every day, but it was practically con¬ 
fined to the blooms only. 
Twenty boll weevils, ten of each sex, were used in this series, and their 
longevity was quite regular, ranging from 2 to 8 days, with an average 
of 4.2 days. This is not quite 1 day above the average for unfed boll 
weevils; consequently the nourishing power of the plant was not very 
high. In fact, it is quite doubtful whether the feeding in either series 
prolonged the life of the boll weevils in the least. 
It is hardly probable that the boll weevil will be able to breed in the 
buds of this plant. The extremely heavy, woolly calyx renders ovipo- 
sition very difficult, and the contents of a bud are not likely to be suffi¬ 
cient to nourish a boll-weevil larva to pupation. 
FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH CALLIRRHOE INVOLUCRATA 
Callirrhoe involucrata Gray is quite common in many parts of Victoria 
County. In fact, it is the most abundant species of the plants studied 
during the summer of 1913. Since this plant blooms in the early spring 
and stops about the first week in June, it was impossible to conduct more 
than one series of experiments with it as food. Fourteen hibernated 
boll weevils collected from cotton in the field early in the spring were 
used. Practically all these boll weevils fed freely on the buds and blooms. 
Owing to the fact that more boll weevils were introduced later in some 
of the series, very little accurate information can be given regarding 
their longevity. The maximum certain longevity was 20 days. 
A number of boll weevils were observed in copulation in this series. 
Two females deposited eggs, one laying two and the other three. 
These five eggs were placed in four buds. The buds were then placed 
on moist sand and tested for emergence of adults. Since none emerged, 
the buds were opened and examined. Three showed no signs of larval 
work, but one showed that a larva had lived long enough to consume fully 
one-half of the inner tissue of the bud. 
FEEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH CALLIRRHOE PEDATA 
Callirrhoe pedata Gray is much like the preceding species, but is erect 
in growth instead of procumbent. It is comparatively rare near Vic¬ 
toria. Rather thorough tests were made of this plant as a food plant for 
boll weevils. Early in the spring eight hibernated individuals were col¬ 
lected in the field and placed on it. These weevils fed freely on the buds 
and blooms, but deposited no eggs. 
In this series the maximum longevity after collection was 26 days, and 
the average, 12.1 days. This is considerably above the record of the 
field-collected boll weevils fed on Sphaeralcea, but is still far short of the 
longevity of the boll weevils fed on cotton squares. 
Later in the season 24 boll weevils which emerged from cotton squares 
were placed with the buds and blooms of Callirrhoe pedata as food. The 
longevity record of this series is rather surprising. With the exception 
of one boll weevil, which lived for 21 days and ate regularly every day, 
the maximum longevity was 6 days, and the average was about as low 
as that for unfed boll weevils. In the case of the one exception the sus¬ 
taining value of the plant is shown clearly, but for some reason the remain¬ 
ing 23 boll weevils were not so well adapted to the food, though they ate 
heartily during the few days they lived. Including the boll weevil which 
