GRAPE INSECTS 



443 



injured berries (!olor prematurely and sometimes shrivel and 

 drop. Infestation by the grape-seed chalcis may be prevented 

 l)y destroying all wild grape-vines in the vicinity of the vine- 

 yard, and by not allowing any of the infested fruit to remain 

 in the vineyard after picking time. 



Reference 

 Cornell Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 265, p. 380. 1909. 



The Grape Root-worm 

 Fidia viticida Walsh 



This small grayish-brown beetle is l)y all odds the most 

 destructive insect enemy of the grape occurring east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. It is a 

 native American insect 

 which doubtless fed 

 originally on the various 

 species of wild grapes. 

 Its known range extends 

 from Nebraska to Mass- 

 achusetts and south- 

 ward to Texas, Missis- 

 sippi and North 

 Carolina. Since 1866 

 it has ranked as a i:)est 

 in Kentucky, Missouri, 

 Arkansas and Illinois, 

 but the outbreak in the 

 Lake Erie grape belt 

 beginning in 1893 has 



been by far the most p^^ 381. -Characteristic work of the 



extensive, persistent and root-worm beetle. 



grape 



