AMERICAN WILD VINE. 145 



the end of April, and continue to appear till the latter part of May. A second 

 brood also make their appearance towards the end of July.* 



Among the Hemiptera, which prey upon the vine, is the Tettigonia vitis, or 

 vine-hopper, of Harris, which was for a long time supposed to be the vine-fret- 

 ter of Europe. In a perfect state, this insect measures one tenth of an inch in 

 length, is of a pale-yellow, with two small red lines on its head ; the hinder part 

 of the thorax, the scutel, the base of the wing-covers, and a band across their 

 middle, are scarlet; the tips of the wing-covers are blackish, between wliich 

 and the above-named band there are several small, red lines. The head is cres- 

 cent-shaped above, and the eyelets are situated just below the ridge of the front.f 

 These insects, according to Dr. Harris, inhabit both the foreign and native grape- 

 vines, under the surface of the leaves, among which they may be found during 

 the greater part of the summer, where, also, they pass through all their transform- 

 ations. They make their first appearance in June, when they are wingless, and 

 of course in their larva state. They remain perfectly quiet for most of the time, 

 with their beaks thrust into the succulent parts of the leaves, from which they 

 derive their nourishment. If disturbed, however, they leap with great agility 

 from one leaf to another, from which circumstance they are called vine-hoppers. 

 As they increase in size, they frequently cast their skins, which may often be 

 found, during summer, adhering to the leaves, and upon the ground beneath the 

 vines. They generally reach their perfect state in the month of August, when 

 they become still more active by the aid of their legs and wings, and are enabled 

 to leap and tly from tree to tree. They do great injury to the vines by depriv- 

 ing their leaves of sap, which not only causes them to turn yellow and fall, even 

 at mid-summer, but by this exhaustion, their most important functions are inter- 

 rupted, the fruit becomes stunted and diseased, and if the evil be sufiered to con- 

 tinue, the plant itself, in a few years, is rendered barren, and consequently of no 

 value. In autumn, these insects quit the vines, shelter themselves beneath the 

 fallen leaves or decayed tufts of grass, where they remain till the following 

 spring, when they emerge from their winter retreats, and in due time deposite 

 their eggs upon the leaves of the vine, and then die. The Vitis labrusca is also 

 attacked by a species of bark-louse, of a globular form, nearly half the size of a 

 pea, and of about the colour of the bark itself. It sometimes occurs in great 

 numbers, which imbed themselves in the furrows of the bark, abstract large 

 quantities of its sap, and thereby impoverish the vine. The most efficacious 

 means employed for the destruction of the vine-hopper or bark-lice, are fumiga- 

 tions of red-pepper seeds, tobacco, or other hot, acrid plants, which require fre- 

 quent repetition, and much precaution to kill the insects and to prevent injury to 

 the vines. 



Among the Lepidoptera, which feed upon the vine, there are several species 

 of Sphinx, the Procris americana, and the Eudryas grata. As it would occupy 

 too much space to enter at length into the characters and habits of all these 

 insects, we must refer the reader to Dr. Harris' " Report," from which much 

 valuable and practical information may be gained on this subject, that cannot 

 be found in any other work. From the sphinges he has selected a group to 

 which he has applied the name of Philampeliis^ signifying literally, "I love the 

 vine," from the circumstance that their larvae live upon the grape-vine. When 

 young, they have a long and slender tail, recurved over the back like that of a 

 dog, which, after one or two changes of the skin, disappears. Some of these 

 caterpillars are of a pale-green, and others are brown, having the sides of their 

 bodies ornamented by six cream-coloured spots, of a broad, oval shape. They 

 have the power of withdrawing the head and the first three segments of the body 



* See Harris' Report, p. 101. f Encyclopoedia Americana, viii., p. 43. 



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