The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1915-01-22

~ HSh square Punctured
: Boil Weevil in Flight.
The Mexican boil weevil at WORT :.
one of the most industrious, persistart
and prolific little animals of which wa
have any record
State Entomologist E. Lee Worshac
of the Georgia department points ont
that each female will lay approximate
ly three hundred eggs which come IN
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 ar
the beginning of the season couId
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
ly 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. ---~.a s.,~~--rs. - '-@s,'
The weevil is known to feed on a
few other plants besides cotton, one
in particular being a 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
y 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-fye!
degrees to bring them out in large
numbers. When the old weevils come
out of their winter quarters they go
straight to the cotton plant. If there
are no squares on it, they attack theI
plant itself, puncturing the stem, and
unless the plant is very hardy one
it is likely to be killed. The weeyllI
feeds on the tender growing shoots
and new leaves until the first squares
appear. When young square Isl
punctured by a weevil it flares open
and soon falls to the ground; for TINS
reason there is an absence Of bloom
where weevils are abundant.
The boil weevil travels by means OF
its wings and can easily fly twenty-five
to fifty miles at single flight IneI
only reason for travelling is search loL
food. When food is scarce 1t will traVei
a greater distance. In 1912 the Wee'l'
advanced through Alabama distance
Of about one hundred miles anu
camped for the winter within MY
miles Of the Georgia line. Under tneSo
conditions it was naturally expect
ed that it would get into Georgia
in 1914.
There is no greater authority IN
America on the boil weevil than ". =
Hunter, agent Of the United states
bureau of entomology in charge "
crop insect investigation in the oouIu,
Mr.. Hunter began studying the Oon
weevil in 1902 and has perhaps
more intimate knowledge of TINS a"I
other cotton insects than any o''.,
man in the world. Through bis enc
getic and masterful direction oil W.
Investigation, the cultural system
cotton production devised to meet '"'