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MONTHLY LETTER OF THE BUREAU OF ENTOMOLOGY eee this 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Number 215 Activities for February March, 1932 
(Not for Publication) 
| FES eee a 
COTTON INSECTS 
Thurberia weevil increases alarmingly.-T. P. Cassidy, Tucson, 
Ariz., reports an alarming increase and spread of the Thurberia weevil 
(Anthonomus grandis thurberiae Pierce). Referring to February. examina- 
tions in the Tucson district, he says an examination of 14,610 bolls 
showed that 653 of these, or 4.5 per cent, contained weevils or weevil 
cells, and that weevils were found in every field inspected. The per-— 
centage of boli infestation was from 0.6 per cent to 15.2 per cent, the 
highest infestation found in this district since 1925, when the Bureau 
began keeping records. The significant spread noted was the finding 
of an 90.08 per cent boll infestation in the Eloy district, based on 
examinations of approximately 9,000 bolls. The importance of this find— 
ing is that the district in question is intermediate between the Tucson 
area and the Salt River Valley. 
Bucculatrix thurberiella Busck survives winter as adults.-Follow- 
ing the unusually low temperature of 10° F., in January, Mr. Cassidy col- 
lected at Tucson, in field-cotton débris, several living moths of the 
cotton leaf perforator, which became active under indoor temperatures, 
thus indicating that the unusual cold had not hurt them much. This is im- 
portant confirmation of previous indefinite records on the longevity 
of moths during the winter months. Evidence obtained by T. C. Barber 
at Brownsville, Tex., shows that the development of this species "is 
continuous, though slow, during moderate winters in that section." 
Abundant winter activity of Anthonomus grandis Boh.-Reports re-. 
ceived from T. C. Barber, Brownsville, Tex., and A. G. Maloney, Tallulah, 
La., indicate unmistakably that the boll weevil remained active in the 
fields through the winter (up to February) in freshly sprouted and grow-— 
ing cotton that had remained alive since last fall. Near Orangeburg, 
S. C., on February 29, F. F. Bondy found 75 live weevils in a single field. 
This is believed to be the first record of this kind since the boll weevil 
reached South Carolina. Mr. Maloney observed that "in 50 counties ex- 
tending from the lower Rio Grande in Texas (northeastward across the 
State) to Ellis County * * * cotton stalks kept on growing (up to February) 
* * * and in some sections plants are blooming or developing squares. 
* *.* These volunteer cotton plants are now hosts to numerous weevils 
in various stages." Mature weevils were active in southern Texas general- 
ly and some of the immature weevils of last fall had survived and matured, 
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