Boll Weevil Monument, Vol. 8, No. 32
Boll Weevil Monument
Enterprise, Alabama
Why is there an Italian statue of a Greek lady holding a Mexican boll weevil in the middle of Main Street in a small Alabama town? The plaque near the base of the statue gives a partial explanation:
“In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the Herald of Prosperity, this monument was erected by the Citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.”
But how could one of the most economically devastating insects to ever enter the country be a “Herald of Prosperity?”
At the turn of the 20th century many southern farms relied on cotton as a cash crop, and the economic impacts of this cash crop radiated throughout the community. But around 1892 the boll weevil entered Texas from Mexico and quickly spread eastward across the cotton belt. By 1909 this “evil weevil” reached Alabama, and cotton yields plummeted, just as they had in other southern states. One report indicates production through the Enterprise cotton gin dropped from 15,000 bales in 1914 to 5000 bales in 1915. The boll weevil was certainly not a herald of prosperity up to this point.
But in 1916, an innovative seed merchant convinced a local farmer to try growing peanuts. Peanuts were a great success, other farmers were quick to adapt, and Coffee County, Alabama had a new cash crop, one that was even more lucrative than cotton. By 1919 local merchants were seeing the impact of this new prosperity to such an extent they were moved to erect a monument to express their gratitude. Change is often traumatic, but it is not always bad!
Today, the insect on the top of this monument is not only the biggest boll weevil in the country; it is also the only boll weevil east of the Mississippi River. Within the past forty years, boll weevils have been eradicated from most of the US Cotton Belt. North Carolina achieved eradication in 1985. The last weevil was captured in Alabama in 2003. Mississippi was declared weevil-free in 2008. Even Texas is largely eradicated, though a few weevils persist in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where eradication efforts are ongoing.
How could boll weevil eradication succeed when efforts to eradicate so many other non-native insect pests, including fire ants, have failed? Boll weevils have two weak points in their biology that were exploited for eradication. First, they only reproduce on cotton. If you know where all the cotton fields are, you know where all the boll weevils are. Second, entomologists were able to identify and synthesize a pheromone that is highly attractive to both male and female boll weevils. This pheromone and the yellow-green traps in which it is used, were key tools in the eradication program. Initially, boll weevil traps were used as highly efficient survey tools—to determine if fields needed to be sprayed. At low population levels the traps also functioned as control devices, attracting, and killing the last few weevils remaining in a field.
Blake Layton, Extension Entomology Specialist, Mississippi State University Extension Service.
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