The Grape-vine Flea-beetle. 197 



as soon as the grape buds begin to swell and burst : sometimes 

 April weather is so cold and unpropitious that the beetles do not 

 appear until in May. They jump or fly to the nearest vine and 

 soon begin to satisfy their appetites sharpened by a long winter's 

 fast. The tender bursting grape bud seems to be the only item 

 on its menu, and it proceeds to gorge itself with bites from the 

 prospective crop of fruit then locked up in the buds. The beetles 

 seem to be the most active during the warmer, sunshiny portions 

 of the day, when they may be seen jumping and flying about the 

 vines. When touched or jarred, they at once drop quickly to 

 the ground where they " pla}' possum '' for a short time. Their 

 shining blue color renders it easy to discover and watch them at 

 their destructive work. The}' begin gnawing an unsightly hole 

 into either the side or top of the bursting bud, and oftentimes 

 boring into the bud so far that they are almost hidden from view. 

 How many grape buds one of the beetles may thus damage, we 

 cannot say ; doubtless several buds are tasted or sampled by each 

 beetle. 



It usually takes the beetle a few days to satisfy their vigorous 

 spring appetites, then they begin to turn their attention to the 

 propagation of their kind. Early in May one can often find the 

 beetles in copulation on the vines, often on a bud. Egg laying 

 soon begins. 



The egg stage. — Oviposition must have begun with this insect 

 at Ithaca, N. Y., during the first half of May in 1898. How 

 many eggs each female may lay or over hew long a period 

 oviposition extends, we have not 3'et determined. We found the 

 beetles in copulation and freshly laid eggs as late as June 15th, 

 1898 ; this would indicate that either some of the beetles emerge 

 from hibernation much later than others, or that it takes a female 

 several weeks to lay her stock of eggs.* 



*On July 15th, 1898, Mr. V. H, Lowe, entomologist at the New York 

 State Experiment Station, wrote us that " Yesterda}- while looking 

 through some vineyards near Bluff Point, N. Y., I found a few eggs on 

 the underside of a leaf. The adult female was there and had evidently just 

 deposited them." We are unable to satisfactorily explain this instance 

 of late oviposition. It may be that this female was so belated in 

 emerging from hibernation as to have not yet finished laying her quota 

 of eggs. The possibility of there being a second brood of the grubs in New 

 York will be discussed later imder the heading, the number of broods. 



