STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCTETY. 1 8T 



It is in the perfect or beetle state alone, so far as we are aware, that 

 they prove injurious to the horticulturist ; they attack the cultivated grape- 

 vines, denuding them of their leaves, upon which they feed. Dr. I.e- 

 Baron, in his First Report, pg. 54, gives an account of the injury done by 

 A. lucicola to the vineyards of Judge Brown and Mr. Ayres, of Villa 

 Ridge, in the extreme southern part of the State. From this account it 

 appears that their attack in this case was directed more particularly against 

 Norton's Virginia, while the Concords and Ives remained comparatively 

 exempt. Mr. Ayres states that when just discovered, about sundown, "they 

 were flying close to the ground in a zigzag style, and in such numbers as 

 to sound like a swarm of bees." Dr. LeBaron, to whom some of the 

 injured leaves were sent, states that •' they resemble a piece of coarse, 

 irregular net-work, all the larger veins, and a part of the smaller ones, 

 being left." From the facts in this case it appears that this species is really 

 a night-feeder, notwithstanding the general opinion to the contrary. 



Their time of appearance at Villa Ridge was in the latter part of 

 June; and in that instance they continued their operations but one or two 

 nights, and then descended a few inches into the soil, where, according to 

 Mr. Ayres, they paired, and the females doubtless deposited their e_ggs. 



Remedies. — ^As they appear very suddenly, operate rapidly and dis- 

 appear as suddenly, it is very difficult to devise any special method of 

 counteracting them. As they readily drop from the vines when disturbed, 

 shaking them into a sheet and destroying them, so far as this can be done 

 after night, may possibly afford a partial means of checking them. Where 

 they remain during the day, when in such numbers, is not known ; ordi- 

 narily I have found them in fields, on weeds, blackberry bushes, and other 

 low shrubs. Dusting the leaves with lime, or syringing with some obno.x- 

 ious fluid, has been recommended, but to be effectual, if at all, they must 

 be detected when they first ajjpear, and the application made at once, or 

 in advance if there is reason to anticipate them. Proper, careful culture, 

 and especially cultivation of the soil will probably assist greatly in pre- 

 venting their increase; but, fortunately, they seldom appear in destructive 

 numbers. 



Pelidnota punctata, Linn. The Spotted Vine-chafer. 



This is a large oval-shaped beetle, about one inch long and half an 

 inch, or a little more, in width ; of a shining, brownish yellow or clay 

 color above, with a small black spot on each side of the thorax, and three 

 similar spots on each wing-case ; of a deep bronzed or blackish green 

 color beneath. The broad, straight, flat face has no cross-line or mark 

 dividing the lower portion from the upper, as is usual. The claws are not 

 notched in any of the feet, but one is always larger and' more robust 

 than the other ; the antennae have a leaf-like club at the tip, as the pre- 

 ceding species. 



Prof. Riley, who first described the larva, says it is a large, clumsy 

 grub, bearing a close resemblance to the common white grub of our 

 meadows, from which it differs chiefly in being wrinkled^ in having the 

 skin more polished and of a pure white, and in the distinct heart-shaped 



