The Grape-vine Flea-beetle. 201 



facing page 191. They are of a saffron-yellow color, with red- 

 dish-brown eyes. Each segment bears a row of short blackish 

 hairs across the dorsum, and a pair of comparatively large, 

 curved, blackish spurs project caudad from the dorsum of the 

 anal segment. 



In our cages in the insectary, the pupal stage of this flea- 

 beetle lasted but little more than a week ; for on July 7th, the 

 pupal skin had been cast off and the mature or adult insect — the 

 steel-blue beetles — had begun to emerge from the soil. The indi- 

 cations were that the beetles remained in the earthen cells or 

 pupal homes for a day or so before emerging. They continued 

 to emerge in our cages for a week or more. 



Habits of the beetles in the su77imer. — Fresh grape leaves were 

 placed in our cages where the flea-beetles began to emerge from 

 the ground on July 7th. They at once began feeding upon the 

 leaves, eating small irregular holes, usually from the upper sur- 

 face, nearly through, often leaving part of the fuzzy, lower skin 

 of the leaf. Leaves upon which they fed looked very much like 

 those eaten by the grubs in June; thus figures 18 and 19 will 

 serve to illustrate both the work of the grubs and of the summer 

 brood of the beetles. The beetles in our cages fed almost con- 

 tinuously for many days ; their little string-like pellets of excre- 

 ment were thickly scattered over their feeding grounds. Some 

 of the beetles thus continued to feed on the fresh grape leaves 

 placed in the cages for nearly two months. The cages were left 

 in a warm greenhouse, and yet many of the beetles ceased feed- 

 ing and hid themselves in the refuse of dead leaves at the bot- 

 tom of the cage. 



Thus there is no question but what the beetles which emerge 

 in July feed during the rest of the summer, and they evidently 

 thrive upon grape leaves. Comstock records that he had heard 

 reports of considerable damage being done to the grape-vines by 

 the beetles in the summer. But is the grape-vine their favorite 

 food-plant during the summer? During July and August, when 

 the beetles were feeding ravenously on the grape leaves in our 

 cages we made several attempts to find them or evidences of 

 their work in vines which had been quite badly damaged by the 

 beetles on the spring and by the grubs in June. Our efforts were 



