Boll Weevil

Boll Weevil, common name for a destructive beetle that infests cotton plants. The adult insect has a long snout, is greyish in colour, and is usually less than 6 mm (‚ in) long. It feeds only on the cotton plant. The life cycle of the boll weevil from egg to egg-laying adult is about three weeks; four or five generations may breed in one season. In early spring the adult punctures the buds and bolls (seed cases) and lays its eggs in them. The eggs hatch into larvae in three to five days.

The larva—a fat, white grub—does the most damage. It lives on the internal tissues of the buds and bolls. An infested bud usually drops off, but most of the damaged bolls remain on the plant and become stunted or dwarfed. Adult weevils that emerge in the autumn hibernate in grass, old bolls or other vegetation, or in the seeds around the cotton gins (machines that separate cotton from the seeds). The adults reappear in spring for mating and egg-laying.

The insect was first known in Central America and the Caribbean. In 1863 its ravages stopped the cultivation of cotton in Mexico. In about 1892 it spread across the Rio Grande to Brownsville, Texas. From this focal point it moved outward at a rate of about 115 km (70 mi) a year. Today it is found in every part of the cotton-growing district of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

See Weevil; Pest Control.

Scientific classification: The boll weevil is classified as Anthonomus grandis and belongs to the family Curculiondae of the order Coleoptera.