106 - Bulletin 223. 



suspected that the grape-berry moth of America might be after all 

 a native and not a foreigner. 



Some of the European moths were obtained and a critical com- 

 parison and study, as detailed later on (see Fig. 24), has demon- 

 strated that our American moth is a different species, and further- 

 more that several other kinds of American moths have been placed 

 together in our collections as the European grape-berry moth. In 

 superficial appearance and in its habits our American grape-berry 

 moth is much like the European species, but they are certainly distinct 

 species and readily separable. We also find by breeding that the 

 moth which frequently infests American wild grapes is the same as 

 the one working in the vineyards; this is quite conclusive evidence 

 that the insect is a native and not an imported species. 



Some Historical Notes. 



The American grape-berry moth has been known since Clemens named the 

 moth in 1860, but it was not recorded as injurious until 1868 in Ohio, Missouri 

 and Pennsylvania. During the next year or two, it was destructively abundant 

 in vineyards in Ilhnois and Maryland. The first record we have found of the 

 insect in New Yorkf states that it seemed to be increasing in the Hudson River 

 Valley in 1873. In 1881, it was again abundant in Missouri and the next year 

 in Ontario, Canada. There was a serious outbreak in Illinois again in 1884 and 

 1885, and in 1889 it was injurious in Delaware. It was apparently first recorded 

 working in wild grapes in 1895 in Nebraska. From 1897 to 1899 one of our 

 correspondents at Kendall, N. Y., reported serious injury in his vineyards from 

 this insect, and it was also very destructive in northeastern Pennsylvania and 

 Ohio vineyards. For the past two or three years the grape-berry moth has 

 continued its destructive work in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia; and in many 

 vineyards scattered throughout the famous Chautauqua grape region a large 

 percentage of the crop has been ruined by the insect. 



Distribution and Destructiveness of the Insect. 



The American grape-berry moth is widely distributed throughout 

 the United States and Canada, probably occurring wherever the 

 grape is grown to any extent, from the New England States to Florida 

 and Texas and westward to California. It has been recorded in 

 injurious numbers in Canada, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, 

 New York, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Texas, 



This insect ranks first in destructiveness among the pests attacking 

 the grape-berry. There have been but few definite estimates of the 

 amount of injury by it. In 1869 it is said to have ruined 50 per cent 

 of the fruit of certain varieties in Ohio, and in the same locality half 

 the crop in many vineyards was rendered unmarketable in 1897 and 



"fMeehan's Gardener's Monthly, xv, 121. 



