JOtBAL OF AdOim RESEARCH 
Voi.. IX Washington, D. C., June 4, 1917 No. 10 
THE PINK BOLLWORM, PECTINOPHORA GOSSYPIELLA 
By August Busck , 1 
Entomological Assistant , Bureau of Entomology , United States Department of 
Agriculture 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Introduction. 343 
Original home and present range. 345 
Howto distinguish the pink bollworm in the 
field. 346 
Generic description. 346 
Specific description. 350 
Seasonal history and number of generations.. 351 
Habits of the imago. 354 
Longevity of the larva and behavior under 
artificial conditions. 356 
Page 
Manner of dispersion. 358 
Eood plants. 358 
Parasites.‘. 359 
Other natural enemies. 361 
Synonymy of Pectinophora gossypiella . 362 
Scavenger bollworm, an insect mistaken for 
the pink bollworm. 362 
Synonymy of Pyrodetces rileyt . 366 
Literature cited... 366 
INTRODUCTION 
The pink bollworm ( Gelechia) Pectinophora gossypiella Saunders, 2 
is one of the most destructive cotton insects known and ranks 
among the half-dozen most important insect pests of the world. It 
occurs in the cotton districts of Asia, Africa, and the Hawaiian Islands, 
its ravages in these regions amounting to more than those of all other 
cotton insects combined. The pink bollworm repeatedly reduces the 
yield of lint 50 per cent or more and materially lessens the amount of 
1 While assuming full responsibility for the observations here recorded, the writer wishes to acknowl¬ 
edge that he has gathered many suggestions from the work of previous students and especially from 
Dr. D. T. Fullaway, who during the early part of the writer’s stay in Honolulu gave him the benefit of his 
intimate acquaintance with the insect in the field. ToMr.C. E. Pemberton the writer is indebted for pains¬ 
taking and laborious monthly examinations, of many thousands of seeds, continuing after the writer’s 
departure from Honolulu an experiment with the caterpillars in stored baled cotton for the purpose of ascer¬ 
taining their longevity under such conditions. To Prof. J. E. Rock, of Honolulu, the writer is indebted for 
all plant identifications and for helpful information about localities of some of the rarer malvaceous plants i n 
the Hawaiian Islands, which it was desirable to investigate as possible food plants of the pink bollworm. 
The identifications of the parasites are to be credited to Messrs. S. A. Rohwer, J. C. Crawford, and A. A. 
Girault. The writer wishes especially to acknowledge his obligations to Mr. Carl Heinrich and to Dr. 
Adam Boving, both of whom have given much assistance during the preparation of the systematic part of 
this paper. With the exception of figure C, Plate 9, which was drawn by Dr. Boving, the illustrations 
have all been’made under the writer’s direction by Mr. H. B. Bradford, and much credit is due him for his 
painstaking work, which greatly enhances the value of the paper. 
2 The species has been placed by European specialists in the genus Gelechia, but it is very distinct from 
this genus both in the imago and as larva and pupa. A new genus is here characterized for it and for the 
closely related P. malvella Zeller, the larva of which feeds in the seeds and capsules of althea and malva in 
Europe. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, 
Washington, D. C. 
ii 
(343) 
Vol. IX, No. 10 
June 4, 1917 
Key No. K—52 
