June is, 1914 
Feeding Habits of the Boll Weevil 
241 
EXPERIMENTS WITH LOUISIANA BOLL WEEVILS 
In order to determine whether the feeding habits on Hibiscus syriacus 
of boll weevils reared from cotton at Victoria, Tex., were adaptive habits 
acquired by long presence there and whether they were peculiar to that 
locality, a number of cotton squares infested With the same species were 
imported from Tallulah, La., and the adults reared from them were also 
tested for feeding and longevity on Hibiscus. As blooms only were 
available, no other food was offered. The four boll weevils used fed 
very readily on the blooms and were able to subsist on them for very 
long periods. At the time of closing the experiment, owing to the lack 
of food, only one out of the four weevils had died, and this one had lived 
for 21 days. The remainder were still alive and feeding at this time— 
33 days after starting the first lot and 32 days after the second. 
In the 39 examinations recorded, absence of feeding was found only 
once. The anthers were attacked 32 times and the corolla 18 times. 
It is greatly to be regretted that a supply of buds was not available so 
that tests could have been made of the breeding of these Louisiana boll 
weevils in them, as the lack of either positive or negative records on this 
point make the results less definite than they would otherwise have been. 
But the readiness with which these boll weevils fed on the blooms and 
their extreme longevity seem to indicate that they are quite as well 
adapted to Hibiscus as those from Texas and quite as likely to breed in it. 
The importance of this plant as food for boll weevils is shown by the 
fact that the three remaining died in an average of 4.6 days after the last 
day of feeding. 
feeding experiments with anthonomus grandis THURBERIAE 
Since Anthonomus grandis , var. ihurberiae , was already adapted to at 
least one plant other than cotton ( Thurberia thespesiodes), it was con¬ 
sidered probable that it would be able to breed in Hibiscus buds. For 
determining this point a number of these boll weevils which had just 
emerged from Thurberia bolls imported from Arizona were placed on 
Hibiscus. The results of these experiments follow. 
A few boll weevils emerging from Thurberia bolls were placed with 
blooms of Hibiscus and tested for the longevity and feeding. A number 
of boll weevils were started in this series, but several lots were killed in 
the first few days by what seemed to be a bacterial disease. This reduced 
the number to two, which were carried through the experiment. These 
boll weevils did not feed nearly so readily nor so much as the Texas or 
Louisiana boll weevils under observation at the same time. In the total 
of 21 observations two records of no feeding were made. Feeding on 
the anthers was noted 18 times and on the corolla, 13 times. 
One boll weevil lived 15, the other 30 days, an average of 22.5 days. 
The number tested was too small for this record to be of much value. 
In the second series nine weevils were fed on the buds, blooms, and 
fruit of Hibiscus—five females and four males. In the 40 observations 
made while food was present there was not a single case of no feeding. 
The analysis of the feeding shows parts of the plant fed on, as follows: 
Corolla, 31 times; stamens, 31 times; and buds, 15 times. The usual 
preference for the blooms is shown. 
This series was also interrupted by exhaustion of the food supply. Of 
course, this prevents a definite statement of their longevity, but the fob 
