The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-08-01
THE BOIL WORM
Paris Green to Protect the Cotton From
This Pest and the Leaf Worm

planting trap rows of corn through the
cotton fields at such time as to bring
this corn into the silking stage early in
August This was to attract the early
August brood of moths and cause them
to deposit their eggs on this trap corn
instead Of on the cotton.
As supplementing those recommends
tons and to further protect the crop
against the attacks of this pest we now
advise the planters to make light ap-
pication of Paris green to the cotton
between August and IS. This recon-
mendation can be adopted to advantage
by the farmers who did not plant trap
rows of corn in their cotton fields as
well as by those who did. The object of
this application of Paris green at the
present time will be made plain in the
following paragraphs.
In the minds of some, considerable con-
fusion exists regarding the three i'm
portant cotton insects known as the boil
weevil, the boil worm and the cotton
caterpillar. To combat these insects in
diligently, and to take practical ad-
vantage of the local conditions on his
own farm, the planter must distinguish
carefully between these three different
insects and their habits.
The boil weevil is the little beetle
which has entered Louisiana from Tex
as since 1908 and is each year gaining
territory to the eastward The adult
beetle punctures the squares with its
beak and feeds, through this little open
ing on the pollen inside of the square
The eggs of the female are deposited
within the square, through similar small
openings made with the beak of the in
sect, and the grub which matches from
the egg develops inside of the square
where it can not be reached with
poisons
The boil worm is the larva or worm
of moth resembling the so-called
candle-flies which are attracted to lamps
at night.) The moth deposits its eggs
on corn, cotton and other plants and
these eggs hatch into the small boil
worms which in early life wander where
they please and feed here and there in
stead of on the inside of any one square
or boil. The large round holes found
eaten into green bolls in August and
September are made by these boil
worms. This insect has been in tht cot
ton belt since before the Civil War.
The cotton caterpillar, or leaf worm,
is also the larva of moth, but very
different insect from the boil worm In
stead of eating into the bolls, the leaf
worm strips the leaves from the entire
plant and is most abundant from July
on towards frost
TO clearly understand why an appli-
cation of Paris green at the present time
will be most effective against the boil
worm it is necessary to review briefly
the development of this insect As with
most of the six-footed creatures, the
boil worm passes through four stages in
It's development, the insect in each stage
being designated as follows: The egg;
he larval or worm stage, in which the
insect, feeds and attains its growth; the
,upal Or chrysalis stage (Which CORE
spends to the cocoon stage of butter
1y), in which the insect takes no food, |
S quiet and undergoes its change to the
adult insect; and finally the adult Or
moth stage.
There are four, and simetimes FIVE,
generations of the boil worm a year, ap-
gearing as follows: The winter is passed |
~ the pest in the pupal stage in cells a |
ew inches below the surface of the |
ground From these the moths emerge
n spring and deposit their eggs in the
growing tips of field corn, which is then
rom IL to Is inches high. The worms
first brood) from these eggs feed in
he tip of the corn plants and cause the
caves to have ragged holes in them
when they unfold. These worms mature |
md enter the earth, pass through the
,upal stage and reappear as adult moths
bout the time the field corn is in silk.
Eggs are deposited on the silks and the
esulting worms (second brood) eat the
milky kernels of the ear When ma
ure, like their ancestors, they enter the
,arth, pass through the pupal stage and
lppear as moths in early August. By
his time the field corn is ripened and
lard and not attractive to the moths, SO
hey turn to their second choice of food
,lants, cotton, as the place to deposit
heir eggs. Thus we come to see why
his insect rarely appears in large num-
'ers in the cotton field until in August
nd September. The eggs laid on the
otton plants soon hatch into minute
oil worms (third brood) and these,
Turing the first few days Of their life,
rawl about over the cotton plant, feed
nu hare and fhara ,,Dop the topIor |