24 l>ri.LKTi.\ \^\. 



tions of the outbreak of this pe^t in New Voik ; lie I'eadily found 

 the grub.s on the j'oots and sunie eggshells on the bark, but a nio.st 

 careful search failed to reveal any of the beetles as late as Septem- 

 ber 5th. We feel quite sure that the culprit which is responsible 

 for all the injurv to the vines is the insect known as the grape root- 

 worm {Fidia vit'icida). 



This insect is capable of doing much damage in a vineyard, as is 

 shown in figure 3, and as Ohio grape-growers can testify after sev- 

 eral years of sad and costly experience with it. Apparently the 

 iijsect has never before l)een recorded as injurious in New York, 

 although the beetle is said to occur on Staten Island and throughout 

 iSew Jersev, and we have seen a little of its characteristic work on 

 grape leaves at Ithaca, and one or two other places in New York. 

 Thus, all New York grape-growers should acquaint themselves with 

 the insect and its work, and be on the lookout for it in their 

 vineyards. 



History, Distribution and Destructiveness. 



Our recorded knowledge of this grape root- worm begins in 1866 

 when the beetles were found working on grape leaves in great num- 

 bers in Kentucky, and they had been found on native grape-vines 

 in Illinois. The next year the insect received its name of Fidia 

 citicida^ the grave-vine Fidia, and in 1869 it was considered one of 

 the worst foes to the grape-vine in Missouri. In 1873 and in 1885 

 the insect was a^'ain described as Fidia mitrina and Fidia lurida. 

 and in 18S8 it was recorded from the vicinitv of Iowa Citv, Iowa. 

 In 189^, it was found injui-ing the foliage of grapes in Arkansas, 

 and it continued to be injurious there for several years."^^ The 

 recorded distriburion of the insect is through the .\[iddle States to 

 Dakota and southward to Florida and Texas. 



Nothing was known of the life-history of the insect or of its early 

 stages and its habits until 1893, when Mr. F. M. Webster, entomolo- 

 gist of the Ohio Experiment Station, began his studies of specimens 

 of the grub sent him from the vicinity of Cleveland, Ohio, '' where 

 they were said to occur in great numbers about the roots of grapes, 

 causing very serious injury by eating the outer bark.'' The follow- 



Ark;ins;is Exp. Sla., Bull. No. 43, \). 14. 



