1892: The Boll Weevil entered America traveling from Texas Atlantic Coast, destroying cotton plantations in the south, The boll weevil, is a beetle that consumes buds and young bolls of cotton plants. In 1892, it came to Texas from Mexico By the 1920s it damaged cotton plantations in the south It hurt the economy to the extent that tens of millions of dollars were lost each year It leads to examination of cotton plants and trying to find a way to develop weevil-resistant cotton plants. They never found a way to completely exterminate the weevil, but they did find ways to limit and control the damage The pest is said to have continued to cause $300 million each year but mostly on Texas. The total impact by the 20th century is about $15 billion.