BOLL WEEVIL, Mexican. One of the most conspicuous and harmful is the cotton boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis. It is about one-fifth of an inch long and may be differ entiated from related species by the fact that the tibia of the first pair of legs are provided with two small spines. Immediately after transforming from the pupal state the color is reddish but some time after emergence the color becomes considerably darker. The grub-like larva are considerably longer than the adults, strongly curved, white with pale yellowish heads. The eggs are deposited in punctures made by means of the beak of the female weevil in the buds (called squares) and bolls. The larva devour the interior. Infested squares practically invariably fall to the ground but bolls always remain attached to the plant. In the case of the squares, of course, the fruit is ruined.
Later, as the bolls form, the weevils attack them also and lay eggs in them, and the larva develop in the interior just as with the squares. There is a constant succession of generations from early spring until frost, the weevils be coming continually more numerous as well as both the larva and pupa. A single female will lay her eggs for a considerable number of days, so that by July there is an inextricable confusion of generations, and the insect may be found in the field in all stages at the same time. As stated, the bolls do not drop off as the squares do, but gradually become discolored, and by the time the larva becomes full grown generally crack open at the tip. While the square usually contains but a single larva, as many as 12 have been found in a full grown boll. However, the hatching of only a single larva in a boll results in the destruction of the boll to such an extent that the fibre is useless, Where no serious frost occurs in December all, or nearly all, of the insects reach maturity and enter hibernating quarters, although larva have been found as late even a3 January.
The weevil, so far as known, originated somewhere in Central America. In all proba bility it has been in Mexico for hundreds of years. During the season 1892-93 it crossed over into Texas somewhere near Brownsville, and in 1894 it was noticed in the cotton fields around San Diego, Alice and Beeville. Since that date to the present time it has spread over new territory, averaging annually more than 20,000 square miles. It now infests 9 of the 13 cotton States in an area estimated at 480,940 square miles. In Texas the weevil area is estimated at 182,600 square miles, which is 69 per cent of the total area of the State. In the
other States the territory infested is as follows: Louisiana, 40,800 square miles, or 84 per cent of the total area; in Oklahoma, 41,200 square miles, or nearly 59 per cent of the total area; in Mississippi, 46,340 square miles, or 98 per cent of the total area; in Alabama, 49,100 square miles, or 94 per cent of the total area; in Georgia, 44,400 square miles, or 75 per cent of the total area. Besides, it has infested the whole of the cotton producing section of Florida and nearly one-half of the cotton coun ties of Tennessee. The spread of the weevil into new territory in 1916, estimated at 71,800 square miles, was second only in extent to the infestation of 1915 which was far greater than in any other year of the weevil's history.
The total loss in the production of cotton in the United States caused by the weevil has been estimated as in excess of 10,000000 bales, at a value of only $50 per bale—not counting the seed — represents a loss of $500, 000,000. This estimate covers only the loss incurred in area planted to cotton and not the total production due to the pest. In many localities the appearance of the weevil has re sulted in the abandonment, at least in part, of cotton growing by many farmers, which in directly would account for an additional reduc tion of millions of bales. On account of the destructive effects of the boll weevil many farmers have abandoned entirely any attempt to produce cotton, or have materially reduced the acreage formerly devoted to this crop. This has deprived the majority of farm laborers of employment and resulted in their emigration to other places. In some counties as much as 65 per cent of the adult farm laborers have moved to other sections. It is claimed that because of this condition it would he impos sible, even should the boll weevil leave the territory at once, to make a normal crop of cotton for a number of years. As the weevil has now spread eastward almost to the Savannah River, there is little doubt that it will make its appearance in South Carolina in 1918. Efforts to stay the progress of the weevil have been unavailing, but an effective method of mitigating its damage has been perfected. The methods of destroying or controlling recommended by the Department of Agriculture are the removal of the plants from the fields in the fall when there no prospect of any more fruit being allowed to mature; early planting, the use of early maturing varieties, the appli cation of fertilizers and intensive cultivation. See also Ccrrrox INsecrs;