1. Boll Weevil 
Cotton Plant Bug. 3. Pink Boll Worm. 4. Leaf Worm. 5. Red Spider. 6. Wireworm (Beetle). 7. Flea Hopper. 
SEVEN COTTON INSECT PESTS 
CONTROLLING COTTON INSECT PESTS 
1. In the United States the boll weevil has in some years 
caused a loss in the cotton crop of more than $200,000,000. The 
insect winters as an adult in sheltered places. The weevils that 
survive the winter emerge from hibernation over a long period, 
usually from about March 1 to about July 1, and attack squares 
and young bolls. 
2. The cotton plant bug feeds on many kind of cultivated 
plants. On cotton it punctures not only leaves and stems, but 
also squares and young bolls, which fall off as a result. 
3. The pink boll worm is a destructive pest of cotton and 
occurs throughout practically all cotton-producing regions of 
the world except in the United States, where it is found only 
in limited parts of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. 
4. The leaf worm is not known to survive the winter in the 
United States. In some years the moths enter this country, 
usually through Texas, and multiply on cotton throughout the 
growing season, becoming more abundant with each generation, 
and spreading over the main Cotton Belt until they often reach 
the Northern States, and even Canada. This is the worm that 
caused so much destruction to the 1935 Cotton Crop. 
5. The mite known as the red spider has been one of the 
most destructive of cotton pests. The first sign of mite attack 
is a blood-red spot on the upper surface of a leaf; the infested 
leaves turn red or rusty, dry up, and fall; bolls are shed and 
plants may die. This injury, often called “rust” by cotton 
planters, begins about the middle of June and may continue for 
about three months. 
6. Wireworms (Beetle)—The worms are especially troublesome 
because of the fact that they may live in the soil for two and 
possibly three years before transforming into beetles. These 
wireworms bore into seeds or eat the roots of young plants, often 
killing the plants before they have appeared above ground. Af¬ 
fected plants, if not killed, are dwarfed and sickly. Commonly 
the injury occurs in spots in fields; often there are bare spots 
where all the young cotton has been killed. 
7. Cotton Flea Hopper.—The adult hopper is about one-eighth 
of an inch long, pale greenish or grayish, thickly dotted above 
with brownish spots, and with two pairs of characteristic black 
marks near the tip of each wing. The nymphs are green and 
wingless. 
8. We hope the above pictures and short descriptions above 
will help you in identifying these pests when attacking your 
cotton. For more information on insect pests read pages 70 
through 75. 
There are more than 20 different varieties of insects that 
attack the cotton plant, of which the Cotton Boll Weevil, which 
invaded Texas in 1892, is the most destructive. Today fully 90% 
of the Cotton Belt of the South is infested. The Federal Bureau 
of Entomology, after experimenting for more than 25 years, 
now recommends Calcium Arsenate as being the best and most 
economical control for the Boll Weevil, Cotton Leaf Worm, Army 
Worm, and many other insects that attack cotton. 
There are four methods of dusting cotton with machines: 
The hand duster, which is used by one man walking between 
two rows, who dusts about 5 acres in one night; the one-mule 
machine, which will dust 15 to 20 acres in one night; the cart 
machine, drawn by two mules, which will dust about 25 to 30 
acres in a single night; and the airplane, which will dust as 
much in one early morning as 30 cart dusters, or about 600 
to 800 acres. 
The cut shown below was made from a photo of James D. 
(Joe) Greer dusting cotton with an airplane. Mr. Greer, a 
product of Love Field, Dallas, Texas, has been flying since 1921, 
and dusting cotton since 1927. His experience covers dusting 
cotton in Peru, where the cotton grows 12 feet high, it never 
rains, and the entire acreage is irrigated. Prior to going into 
the cotton dusting business, Greer did barnstorming, exhibition, 
instruction work, and airline flying, but considers cotton dusting 
the most hazardous of all civilian flying, owing to the close 
proximity to the ground and the great speed he must fly in 
order to properly distribute the poison dust, often flying 3 to 6 
feet above the growing cotton. 
Mr. Greer is head of the Greer Flying Service, owns five 
planes, make his home in Memphis, with headquarters at the 
Municipal Airport. The season for dusting begins very early 
in the Rio Grande Valley, about May 15, ending in the Northern 
Cotton Belt about September 16. 
During this four months of dusting, these five planes will 
dust two to three hundred thousand acres of cotton, using many 
carloads of Grasselli’s Calcium Arsenate, which we have been 
handling for about 15 years. 
During the infestation of the Cotton Leaf Worm in 1935, there 
were three methods used for controlling this worm—Calcium 
Arsenate, Paris Green, and Arsenate of Lead. Either of these 
poisons can be used as a powder or liquid spray. The price per 
acre usually figures about the same; full directions come with 
each purchase. See pages 70 through 75. 
CAUTION—Poisons that will destroy insects are dangerous 
to humans, pets and livestock; handle accordingly. 
(Page 51) 
