What is "boll weevil"

n. beetle measuring an average length of six millimeters (¼ inch), which feeds on cotton buds and flowers, native to Central America

n. grayish weevil that lays its eggs in cotton bolls destroying the cotton [syn: Anthonomus grandis]

The boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) is a beetle which feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central America, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19th century and had infested all U.S. cotton-growing areas by the 1920s, devastating the industry and the people working in the American South. During the late 20th century, it became a serious pest in South America as well. Since 1978, the Boll Weevil Eradication Program in the U.S. allowed full-scale cultivation to resume in many regions.

Boll weevils was an American political term used in the mid- and late-20th century to describe conservative Southern Democrats.

During and after the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, conservative southern Democrats were part of the coalition generally in support of Roosevelt's New Deal and Harry Truman's Fair Deal economic policies, but were opposed to desegregation and the American civil rights movement. On several occasions between 1948 and 1968, a prominent conservative Southern Democrat broke from the Democrats to run a third party campaign for President on a platform of states' rights: Strom Thurmond in 1948, Harry F. Byrd in 1960, and George Wallace in 1968. In the 1964 presidential election, five states in the Deep South (then a Democratic stronghold) voted for Republican Barry Goldwater over Southern Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson, partly due to Johnson's support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Goldwater's opposition to it. After 1968, with desegregation a settled issue, the Republican Party began a strategy of trying to win conservative Southerners away from the Democrats and into the Republican Party (see Southern strategy and Silent Majority).

Representative Howard W. Smith (D- VA) took up the boll weevil as a symbol in the 1950s, during the Eisenhower administration.

Nonetheless, a bloc of conservative Democrats, mostly Southerners, remained in the United States Congress throughout the 1970s and 1980s (the Conservative Coalition). These included Democratic House members as conservative as Larry McDonald, who was also a leader in the John Birch Society. During the administration of Ronald Reagan, the term "boll weevils" was applied to this bloc of conservative Democrats, who consistently voted for tax cuts, increases in military spending, and deregulation favored by the Reagan administration.

"Boll weevils" was sometimes used as a political epithet by Democratic Party leaders, implying the boll weevils were unreliable on key votes or not team players.

Most of the boll weevils eventually retired from politics, or in the case of some, such as Senators Phil Gramm and Richard Shelby, switched parties and joined the Republicans. Since 1988, the term "boll weevils" has fallen out of favor. A bloc of conservative Democrats in the House, including some younger or newer members as well as the remaining boll weevils who refused to bow to pressure to switch parties, organized themselves as the "Blue Dogs" in the early 1990s. A different bloc of Democrats also emerged in the 1990s, under the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), espousing conservative pro-business views on economic issues and moderate views on social issues.

Boll Weevil was a casual dining chain of hamburger restaurants located in San Diego, California, United States.

"Boll Weevil" is a traditional blues song, also known by similar titles such as "Boweavil" or "Boll Weevil Blues". Although many songs about the boll weevil were recorded by blues musicians during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, this one has become well known, thanks to Lead Belly's rendition of it as recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1934. A 1961 adaptation by Brook Benton became a pop hit, reaching number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

Boll weevil may refer to:

• Boll weevil, a beetle
• Boll weevil (politics), an American political term used in the mid- and late-20th century
• Boll Weevil (restaurant), a restaurant chain
• Boll Weevil Monument
• Piedmont Boll Weevils, a minor league baseball team

In music:

• "Boll Weevil" (song), a traditional blues song, a 1961 hit by Brook Benton
• Bo Weavil Jackson, a blues musician
• The Bollweevils (band), an American punk band
• "Boll Weevil", a song by The Presidents of the United States of America from The Presidents of the United States of America