. The cotton plant : its history, botany, chemistry, culture, enemies, and uses. Cotton; Cotton. Ci i b Fig. 11.—Cotton worm moth: a, with wings expanded in flight; l>, wings closed, at rest—natural size (after Riley). It spins a light silken web, forming an imperfect cocoon, usually within a folded leaf. It is frequently seen hanging quite naked upon the plant, but in such cases the leaf in which it was originally spun has been eaten away by other caterpillars. Its color is at first green, but in the course of an hour or so it changes to brown. The insect remains in this condition for a pe
. The cotton plant : its history, botany, chemistry, culture, enemies, and uses. Cotton; Cotton. Ci i b Fig. 11.—Cotton worm moth: a, with wings expanded in flight; l>, wings closed, at rest—natural size (after Riley). It spins a light silken web, forming an imperfect cocoon, usually within a folded leaf. It is frequently seen hanging quite naked upon the plant, but in such cases the leaf in which it was originally spun has been eaten away by other caterpillars. Its color is at first green, but in the course of an hour or so it changes to brown. The insect remains in this condition for a period varying from one week to thirty days. The adult insect.—The perfect insect or imago of the cotton caterpillar is a rather small moth of an olive-gray color, sometimes with a some- what purplish luster. Its wings expand from ]i to \l inches. The markings of the wings are indicated in the figure. The moth is a night flyer and hides during the day, starting up and flying with a swift, somewhat dart- ing motion when disturbed. After sunset it takes wing and flies about, laying its eggs or searching for food. It feeds, in fact, rather extensively, frequenting neighboring flowering plants and also the nectar glands of the leaves of cotton. Fruit, as it ripens, also attracts these moths, and is frequently seriously injured by them. The tongue or proboscis of the moth is curiously modified and fitted for piercing the skin and tissues of ripe fruit, as is shown in the figure. It is said that they are able to puncture hard green pears, the effect of the puncture being a discoloration of the skin for some distance around. The female begins to lay her eggs in from two to four days after lea vingthechrys- alis, and each individual lays from 300 to GOO eggs. With five consecutive and rapidly developed genera- tions the occasionally extra- ordinary numbers of the late broods are not to be wondered at. Number of broods or generations.—The observations of Mr. Schwarz in South Texas
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherwashi, bookyear1896
