Pink bollworm
Pink Bollworm, an insect pest of the cotton plant. It is the small, pinkish caterpillar of a brown, striped moth. Both the caterpillar and the moth are less than a half-inch (13 mm) long. Native to Asia, the pink bollworm has spread to cotton-growing regions throughout the world. It entered Texas from Mexico in 1917 and invaded most cotton regions of the South. The pink bollworm causes extensive crop damage unless controlled by insecticides, burning of cotton stalks after harvest, and plant quarantine programs.
The caterpillars hatch from eggs laid on the host plant or, sometimes, in the ground. They bore into the boll (fruit), damaging the fiber, and eat out the seeds, reducing the yield of oil. The insect spends the pupal stage in the boll or in cracks in the soil. Development from egg to adult moth takes about 25 days.
The pink bollworm is Pectinophora gossypiella of the family Gelechiidae.