The Grape-vine Flea-beetle. 



195 





the vine shoWvS at a in figure 16. 

 Figure 16 vividly portrays such a 

 case ; vines a and b were in neigh- 

 bors 5"ards less than five rods apart, 

 and both pictures were taken on 

 the same day, June 6th, 1898. 



A careful examination of the buds 

 on vines which thus fail to start 

 normally in the spring wnll soon 

 show if it is the work of the flea- 

 beetle. Oftentimes many of the 

 buds will be found to have been 

 nearly all eaten up and are dead, 

 like those shown at b in figure 15. 

 Many of the buds, not so badly eaten 

 may have just begun a weak, dis- 

 couraged and deformed growth, like 

 the buds shown at a in figure 15. A 

 little further search on the vines at 

 this time will usually reveal the 

 culprit — this steel-blue grape-vine 

 flea-beetle. Often some of the bee- 

 • ties can be caught at their destruc- 

 tive work, perhaps just in the midst 

 of gett'ing their breakfast off one of 

 the buds. 



By far the greatest amount of 

 damage done by this grape pest 



15. — a. Grape buds badly damaged by Crape-vine Flee-beetles 



killed by the beetles. Natural size. 



b, buds 



