442 FRUIT INSECTS 



the season. They are at first nearly black in ground color, 

 but soon fade to brownish. These beetles feed on the leaves 

 till the approach of cold weather, when they go into hibernation 

 under rubbish, especially in near-by woodlots. Some of the 

 earliest beetles to emerge, however, mate and lay a few eggs 

 the same season, but as a large proportion of these eggs are 

 infertile, only a small second brood is produced in the latitude 

 of West Virginia. 



Experiments in West Virginia have shown that the grape 

 curculio can be successfully controlled by spraying the vines 

 thoroughly with an arsenical poison at the first appearance of 

 the beetles. In these experiments Paris green, one half ]:)Ound 

 in 100 gallons of water, was used, but it is probable that equally 

 good results could be obtained by using arsenate of lead. Addi- 

 tional applications may sometimes be found necessary in cases 

 where the beetles are excessively abundant. 



Reference 

 W. Va. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 100. 1906. 



The grape-seed chalcis (Evoxysoma vitis Saunders). 



The seeds of the wild grape in the eastern United States and 

 Canada are commonly infested by a milk-white larva about 

 I of an inch in length which eats out the kernel. The insect 

 passes the winter as a larva within the seed. Pupation takes 

 place in June, and in early July the adult gnaws its way out of 

 the seed, leaving a small, round hole. The adult is a small 

 four-winged fly about | inch in length and black in color. 

 The female is provided with a sharp needle-like ovipositor which 

 she inserts through the skin and pulp of the grape and deposits 

 her minute whitish egg in the kernel of the seed. Most of the 

 egg-laying takes place in July. Cultivated varieties are rarely 

 infested, but we have occasionally seen Delawares badly injured 

 by the punctures made by the female in ovipositing. The 



