The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1914-12-26

Inc Mexican boil Weeyil at work is
one o. the most Industrious. persistent
ard prolific little animals of which we
have any record.
State Entomologist f. Lee Worsham
of the Georgia department points out
that each female will lay approximate
ly three hundred eggs which come to
maturity within fifteen to twenty-five
days, according to the season, and
there are about four generations each
year so that each female may give
rise to some 12,500,0O0 progeny. One
female, therefore, in a cotton field at
the beginning of the season, could
come pretty near destroying the crop
in that field before picking time.
The female deposits her eggs in
side the square or boil, preferably the
former, and for this reason they are
not often seen by the farmer. During
the early season the weevil does not
attack the mature bolls. but when food
is scarce in late season, bOlls are bad
BY infected, and many larvae or imma-
ture weevils are found inside of them
/ The egg matches within a few days
into the larva or worm stage. follow
ing which the adult weevil develops
inside the square or boil and gnaws its
way out. In the early part of the
season this process requires about
twenty-five days, but later on fifteen
to seventeen days, are sufficient AS
rule the adult weevils do not live
very long, but the United States bu-
reau of entomology reports few spec
linens that lived a little more than
eleven months.
The weevil is known to feed on a
few other plants besides cotton, one
in particular being species of Thur
IBERIA found growing wild in Arizona,
and which is perhaps more like the
cotton plant than any other.
The young weevils are very soft and
Of light yellow color. They remain
in the pupal shell for about two days,
and when the body is sufficiently hard
ened they go out in search of food.
The adult is a brownish beetle with
a snout or slightly curved beak. The
smallest ones are about one-tenth Of
an inch long, while the largest ones
are quarter of an incn long, the size
depending largely on the food. sup
ply.
The weevil spends the winter in the
adult stage. At the approach of cold
weather the adults desert the cotton
plants and go into Information in seed
houses, in wooded areas, under trash,
weeds, grass, along terraces, fences
and roads, and particularly in Spanish
moss wherever it grows. AS soon as
the temperature gets as low as Sc de-
grees they begin to hunt cover. Dur
ing the winter months they are killed
from various causes, principally the Sc
we're cold weather. A temperature of
II degrees Fahrenheit is fatal to them,
and rarely more than seven per cent |
Of them emerge alive under the most |
favorable conditions. Sometimes it |
is nearer one per cent.
In the spring those weevils which |
have escaped the cold weather emerge |
and begin to hunt cotton. Some Of |
them come out as early as February.
Others do not get out until along about |
the first of July. 1t takes a tempera-
ture around sixty-five to seventy-five
degrees to bring them out in large
When the old weevils come
out Of their winter quarters they 60
straight to the cotton plant. II there
are no squares on it, they attack the
plant itself, puncturing the stem, and
unless the plant is very hardy one
it is likely to be killed. The weevil
feeds on the tender growing shoots
and new leaves until the first squares
appear. When young square is
punctured by weevil it flares open
and soon falls to the ground; for this
reason there Is an absence Of bloom
where weevils are abundant.
The bolf weevil travels by means Of
Its wings and can easily fly twenty-five
to fifty miles at a single flight. The
only reason for travelling is search for
food. When food is scarce it will travel
4 greater distance. In 1912 the weevil
advanced through Alabama a distance
Of about one hundred miles and
for the winter within fifty
niles of the Georgia line. Under these
conditions 1t was naturally expect
ID that 1t would get into Georgia
n 1914.
There is no greater authority in
on the boil weevil than w. d.
Hunter, agent of the United States
bureau Of entomology in charge OF
.rop insect investigation in the South.
Mr.. Hunter began studying the boil
veevil in 1892 and has perhaps a
more intimate knowledge of this and {
'ther cotton insects than any other
nan in the world. Through his ener-
,etic and masterful direction of the |
Investigation, the cultural system of '
otton production devised to meet the |
tack Of the boil weevil has been de- g
eloped and put into application in I