The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-07-05

with the calyx leaves at the base Of the
boil, thus causing the lobes which hold
the cotton to fall entirely back, and al
low the cotton to drop out at the slight
est touch. While young these worms
readily let themselves down by
a, web, when disturbed, but when, Older
they make less use of the web, and Jerk
themselves away to considerable dis
lance when suddenly touched. They
cast then. skins at five successive pc
rlods, and come to their growth in the
incredibly short space of fifteen OF
twenty days. Mr.. Affieck even states
that they usually enter the chrisalis
state on the eleventh day after hatch
ing; but incline to believe that such a
l9rVal existence is extremity exception
al, and the length of. time required for
them to mature will not only, differ in
different individuals of the same brood,
but will vary with the state of the at
mOsphere.
have, upon several occasions, re-
celVed ful-grOWn specimens of. this
worm, and they differ materially, both
in depth of shade, c0lOratiOn and mark
lngs, as indeed do almost all the lava
OF moths belonging to the same (N0c-
tu!dG) family. The most common color
is light green, though they are frequent
~ quite dark, with a purplish hue at the
sides, and with black backs. Whether
light or dark color, however, they are
more or less distinctly marked with
pale, longitudinal lines, and black spots,
as in the above figures.
Mr.. Lyman in his Cotton Culture, saws
of this insect "The first moths that
visit crop deposit their eggs and die.
These eggs in ten days become little
worms, which fall to eating the leaf
on which they were hatched, and, as
they grow, consume the plant and pass
to another. But age comes on aDace
with these ephemeral creatures; the
worm presently grows weary of devour-
ing, selects a leaf, rolls himself in a
little cocoon and dies" Of course this
is serious mistake to think that the
worm dies, else how could it produce
the moth WHICH, as Mr.. Lyman himself
shows, afterward issues from the CO.
gross errors creeping into our popular
works, but then, the study of these con
temptible little bugs, even if thew do
sometimes totally destroy crops, is of
course beneath the dignity Of a man
who can write work on cotton culture,
The truth of the matter is that when
they have completed their growth, the
worms fold over the edge of leaf and,
after lining the inside with silk, change
to chrysalides, which are at first green,
but soon acquire a chestnut brown col
or. After remaining in this last state
Tin which, though the insect is inactive.
it is yet full of life, and undergoing de-
VelOpment) from seven to fourteen days,
or even longer, the moth escapes, the
chrysalls being held fast within the CO.
coon by means of several minute hooks
with which the tail is furnished.
The general upper surface is a golden
yellow inclining to buff, with a faint
olive tint near the outer or posterior
margin. The front wings are crossed
by more or less distinct, irregular lilac
color lines. But the chief Characteris-
tic is dark slate-colOred or black spot
on the front wings, in which there are
paler scales forming almost a double
pupil, while between this spot and the
base of the wings there is much small
Ter pure white dot. In general color
and in the position of the larger spot,
this moth bears a remarkable resem-
blance to that of the true Army-Worm
Of the Northern and Middle States.
Mr.. Afieck, who certainly had abun-
dant opportunities for observing the
fact, assured me that this moth rests in
the position shown in figure b, name
", with the head dOwnwards. He wrote
ON August 22d, 1868: ''The Cotton moth
(Oph61eSG ry ina of Harris in his CORES
pondence with myself never alights in
any other position, or if by accident
it first assumes another position, it in
stantly wheels around, head down."
According to the best authority there
%h1soo HS4fnnon{ h1onIo oE
during the year, the first appearing in
June, or July, and the last, Which does
the most damage, appearing in August
or September, or even later. Mr.. Ly-
man, in the little work already referred
to, says: 'E'Fhat nature has made no
provision by which either the fly, the
worm, ehrysalis On the eggs, survive
the winter or exist for any length of
time where the cotton plant is not q
perennial. But this is surely an error,
which Mr.. Lyman would never had
made had he pQssessed a better knOwl-
edge of insect life and as Mr.. Glover
found that the chrysalis was killed by
the slightest frost, the insect evidently
winters over in the moth state, as do
many others belonging to the same
tribe, Mr.. w. B. SeabrOok gives strong
evidence that this is the case, in "Me-
mOir on the Cotton Plant" read in 1843,
before the State Agricultural Society of
South Carolina, wherein he says "That
the Cotton Moth survives the winter is
nearly certain, An examination Of the
neighboring woods, especially after a
coldWinter, has often been successfully
made for that purpose" And DR.. Phares
states positively that the moth hyber-
mates in piles Of cotton seed under shell
ter, under bark, and in crevices of trees
in dense forests and other secluded
places, and that 1t may often be seen on
pleasant days in winter. ~. - -
*Patent Office Report, 1856, p. "A.