52 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



dence of serious injury occurs. The pest very probably made 

 its way into the Chautauqua grape belt from Ohio and is pres- 

 ent in greater or less numbers as far east as Fredonia, if not 

 farther. It has not been met with by us in numbers in other 



, grape-growing sections. 



Signs of the insect's presence. The more destructive work of this 

 pest is somewhat difficult to detect, but indications of the 

 presence of the beetles are so characteristic that there should 

 be little trouble in locating them. The peculiar chainlike areas, 

 represented on plates 5 and 1, figure 2, are very characteristic of 

 the insect and differ, so much from the work of most other 

 pests that no difficulty should be experienced in identifying it. 

 The beetles exhibit a decided preference for smaller vines, and 

 the general appearance of some very badly eaten ones, is shown 

 on plate 4. The feeding of the beetle is usually the first visible 

 indication of its presence and is rarely accompanied at the out- 

 set by signs of material injury. As the attack progresses and 

 the work on the roots becomes more injurious, the development 

 of the fruit is severely checked and the bunches may be less 

 than half their normal size. The growth of wood is also much 

 reduced and vines which are verj' badly infested may die in mid- 

 summer. Cases were brought to the writer's attention where 

 plants which had grown over 6 feet of wood the preceding sum- 

 mer, wilted in June and died. Infested vines as a general thing 

 become less thrifty, develop less and less wood yearly till finally 

 there is not enough to tie uj). A portion of a vineyard very 

 seriously injured and where there is not w^ood enough to tie 

 up is represented on plate 2. This condition rapidly becomes 

 worse and soon the vines are simply a small mass of foliage 

 resting on an old stump as represented on plate 3. 



The depredations of this pest are much worse and usually 

 first apparent on light sandy or poor soils, and in particular on 

 gravelly knolls. The insects seem to thrive under such condi- 

 tions and a deficient growth should lead to immediate investi- 

 gation. Vines on rich clay soils, in our experience, sustain com- 

 paratively little injury f i om this pest and this appears to be the- 



•case in Ohio. 



