The fiddle tune Boll Weevil refers to an insect pest known as Anthonomus grandis (the boll weevil) that attacks cotton plants.
The boll weevil is thought to have originated in Central America. The first specimens were found in Vera Cruz Mexico in 1843. By 1848 damage to Mexican cotton had become so severe cultivation ceased in some areas.
By 1892 the boll weevil had crossed the Rio Grande into Texas. It spread rapidly north and east through the American Cotton Belt.
The boll weevil has cost cotton farmers more than $15 billion over the years from crop losses and control efforts.
Thanks to aggressive eradication programs, the boll weevil is no longer an economic threat in the
Southeast, Arizona and California. It is still a problem in the Mid-south, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. The U.S.D.A. has established a goal of eradicating the boll weevil completely by 2010.
Adult boll weevils have a snout and are about one-fourth inch long. They may be reddish-brown, gray, or almost black.
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