Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-08-21
A Work that Ogght 10 be Published by
Each Of the Cc>tcn States-Faets
for the Cotton -Pianter-The
Habits and Locale Of
the Insect.

ford, Connecticut, we copy the following
very interesting and timely paper, a
/ paper that will be read with interest by
all who are interested, nearly or remote
! ly, in cotton cr,lture.
! Jacob Hubner was the first to name
/ the cOtton-worm scientifically. He de-
scribed the cotton worm moth under the
name GIetid drgiil6ceG, and figured it in
/ two positions. This name is fixed by
priority of description. The different
stages of the Gletjc, as found throughout
| the cotton belt of the southern States,
have been faithfully portrayed by Prof.
! Townsend Oliver, Of the agricultural
department at Washington; the work is
as yet unpublished, and would be Of
| great value, as it also describes the habits
/ and the insect enemies of the cotton
| worm. The publication of this work
| should be taken in hand by the State
! legislatures in the cotton belt.
Professor G. V. Riley, of Missouri, has
| noticed the dLetiC and furnished a draw
ing in the second reports on the insects
of Missouri Of the moth, representing
its head downward as in q state of rest.
In the sixth report he again discusses
the insect, and the moth is represented
in normal position. He claims that
the cotton worm hybernates as 3 moth.
The present paper Will undertake to
show that such a view is erroneous, and
will give some particulars respecting the
habits of the insect. Prof. GrOte has
observed the cotton worm during five
seasons in central Alabama, and on
many different plantations. 1t belongs
to the nOctUB, a family of nocturnal
moths. The genus is one OF number
of intertropical or southern forms re-
lated to the more northern genus ptIsid,
and has on our own soil the genus
dnODlis fo- its more immediate ally. The
worm is shalt looper." The chrysa-
lis is held within an exceedingly loose
web on the plant, and is visible through
the mesh. The egg, the worm, the
chTysslis and the moth have been very
fully described elsewhere. 1t is de-
signed here TO trace the consecutive his
tory of the insect.
Prof. Grote has observed the worm in
Marengo and Greene counties, on the
Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers
There cotton Is sown in March and
April, begins to bloom in June aud July,
and perishes in November. The earliest
period at which Prof GrOte noticed the
young worm was the last week in June,
its first appearance varying in the same
locality to the middle of July. The
multiplication OF the first brood causes
the greatest loss to the planter. The ap-
pearance Of the worm is always heralded
by the advent Of the perfect moth, the
latter coming to light in houses at least
a week before the worm appears in the
fields. After making this observation
that the worm is the progeny of moths
appearing for the frst in June and
July-PrOf. GrCte noted the extreme
irregularily of the first brood, which
skips some and visits other plantations
over many miles Of country. But this
irregularity is fully made up by later
brOOds and subsequent increase. The
next feature observed was that the worm
is always heard OF Fret to the southwark
of any given locality it coInes as an
army from the south, the brOOds arriving
consecutively as long as the season lasts.
The latest bToOds, when the worms were
numerous, ate everything that was st
all soft about the cottOn-plsnt-the
flowers, the persistent calyx, the very
young boil, the terminal shoots, then
changed into myriad chrysalides cling
ing to the lesfess stems in the face Of
frost, the later chrysalides and retarded
worms peTishing. This southern army
was killed by the advancing winter anu
the decease of their food-piant. Prof.
GrOte asks if the few specimens of the
moth visible in sunny days in the win
ter were cases Of hybernation or merely
accidental survival.
Hubner describes the moth as origi-
nally from Bahia, Brazil. It's destruction
of perennial cotton in the West Indies,
Mexico and Brazil is established. From
q scientific point the insect is of a south
ern type of its family. Prof. GrOte be-
lieves that the insect dies out with its
food at the end of each year in the south
ern States, and that its next appearance
is due in every instance TO a fresh immi-
grafton from more southern regions.
For many years after cotton was culti-
waited in the south, the insect did not
make its appearance. Its earliest Gate
in central Alabama was not much pre-
ceding the war. It does not appear ev-
cry year, nor does it at the same time of
the year in any locality. The moth is
capable of extended lights; Prof. Pack
ard has seen it IN the eastern States,
Prof. GrOte and DR.. l.. +. Harvey in
Buffalo; Prof. Riley says it has been
taken in Chicago. 1t probably follows
the cOast-line and the water-courses
emptying into the gulf Of Mexico-the
watershed of the Mississippi extending
L
is evidence of most extended flights on
the part OF other nOcturide insects.
Spreading thus rapidly from the south,
it escapes its natural parasites.
If the hybernsting theory is adopted,
a period OF several months in the his
tory Of the insect cannot be accounted
for. The wO.m has never been seen on
anything but the cotton plant, and per-
ishes by thousands rather than eat any
thing else, remaining so long as the
plant furnishes food, and turning to a
chrysalis on the leaves or stems at last
The wandering is accidental, as the
worm is not gregarious like the tent
caterpillars. There is no proportion be-
tween the few that survive in warm
winters and the swarms of the first ap-
pearance. The permanent residence OF
the dletid is outside Of our cotton belt
Prof. Grote concludes that il is not in
digenous with us, but an annual; not
denizen, but q visitant, unable TO con-
tend with the variations of our climate;
and he believes that the process of arti-
fetal determination may be simplified
by limiting the period of successful at
tack and doing away with certain pro-
posed remedies. The agent OF destruc-
tion must be directed against the first
brood in each locality, and concerted
action on the part of the planters, where
the remedy is to be applied, will be ne
cessary.
Prof. Riley began the discussion of the
paper on the cOtton-worm by saying
that he had recently received a number
ofletters from men who had investigated
this subject asking for definite informa.
ton as TO the cotton-wOrm. He thought
Prof. Grote's paper would in a measure
answer those inquiries satisfactorily,
and he would simply make one correc-
/ ton. When the essayist implies, said
! he, that l have come to other conclu-
siOns, and states that tha moth hiber-
mates simply from analogy, have doue
! 80 more from recorded facts than any,
I thing else. The question was whether
| il hiberpated as chry sails or as a moth.
/ The conclusions OF Mr. Grote are that
! the moth hibernates and dies necessari-
/ ly. think Mr.. Grote's facts show that
/ il does. Now the question is over how
wide an area does this moth perish every
/ winter. Can 1t be possible that In the
/ Gulf States the moth cannot survive the
mild winters? Must every year an in
sect be brought necessarily from the
tropical regions Of the south? / think.
where the instances of the moth further
north are concerned, the facts brought