June, '08] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 175 



A NEW ROOT PEST OF THE VINE IN CALIFORNIA 



By H. J. QuAYLE, Berkeley, Cal. 



In 1883 Matthew Cooke in his book, "Injurious Insects of the Or- 

 chard and Vineyard," gave an account of an insect attacking the 

 grape vine in California which he called the Imported Grape Flea- 

 beetle (Adoxus vitis). He confused this insect with the true flea 

 beetle, and this mistake has continued in the accounts of the insect 

 that have appeared in the literature of the state ever since. 



It is now known that this insect is closely related to the grape root 

 worm (Fidia viticida Walsh) of the eastern states and is improperly 

 called a flea beetle. The life history, as it has been worked out during 

 the past season, is briefly as follows : The beetles appear in May 

 and June, when they feed on the growing parts of the vine above 

 ground, including the leaves, tender shoots, petioles, pedicels, and 

 even the berry itself. 



The eggs are laid in clusters of four or five to fifteen or twenty 

 on the stump of the vine beneath two or three layers of the old bark. 

 From eight to twelve days are required for hatching and the young 

 larvee make their way to the roots, where they feed until the vine 

 becomes dormant. By September some are about full grown, while 

 others are but half grown. These latter resume feeding in the fol- 

 lowing spring. Pupation occurs within from four to eight inches 

 of the surface of the ground during the latter half of April. The 

 pupal stage lasts two weeks and the beetles begin emerging about 

 May first. 



Two forms of the beetle occur in about equal numbers in the state, 

 one being wholly black, while the other has the elytra, tibia? and basal 

 half of the antenna brown. These are known as Adoxus viti^ and 

 Adoxus ohscurus, but they are undoubtedly simply two forms of the 

 same species, since they are always found together and breed in- 

 discriminately. 



Adoxus vitis is a well-known pest of the grape in France and speci- 

 mens received from there are identical with the brown form occurring 

 here. Numerous specimens were sent me hy Professor Valery Mayet 

 of Montpelier, France, but only two specimens of Adoxus ohscurus, 

 which he states is very rare, and found only on a plant of the marshy 

 prairies, and never upon the grape vine. The ohscurus, as it is known 

 in France, is apparently a distinct species, while what has been called 

 ohscurus in this state appears to be simply a form of vitis. Specimens 

 from France and California have been submitted to Mr. A. E. 



