Family Gelechiidae

RECOGNITION

Diagnostic features.  In the fourth instar, the pink bollworm larva starts to take on a pinkish orange color with pink bands along the middle of each segment. Before that, the larva is white. On the head, the anterior puncture is between anterior setae 1 and 2 instead of behind anterior seta 2 and the adfrontal puncture is closer to adfrontal seta 1 than adfrontal seta 2. On the prothorax, the setae of the prespiracular plate form a triangle and there is a light crescent or kidney-shaped patch on the each side of the prothoracic sclerite, near seta 1b. Seta 3 of abdominal segment 8 is above the spiracle and a little in front of it, rather than directly in front of it. Seta 1 on abdominal segment 9 is about the same distance from seta 2 as from seta 3. The members of each pair of prolegs are widely separated at their base and the crochets of each proleg are arranged in an incomplete circle with the circle opened externally, away from the middle of the larva. There is no anal fork.

ECOLOGY

Life cycle. Pink bollworm eggs take about three to four days to hatch after they are laid. They are white at first and progress to an orange color as development progresses. Freshly-hatched larvae are white with a brown head. They don’t turn pink until the fourth and last larval stage. Larvae bore into the cotton plant – usually in the cotton boll – in order to feed on the seeds. The larva moves from seed to seed within the boll, chewing through the cotton fibers as it goes. This feeding damage allows other insects and fungi to enter the boll and cause additional damage. Larvae take twelve to fifteen days to develop, after which they move to the soil to pupate. The brown pupa remains immobile in the top layer of the soil for seven to eight days. Adults emerge as brownish or grayish moths with dark mottling and dark spots on their wings. The females take two or three days to mate and develop eggs within her body. After this brief period she lays the majority of her eggs within ten days. Eggs are laid under the cotton bolls. Adult males and females feed on nectaries under the cotton leaves and may live for up to two months.