The Grape-vine Beetle 237 



cient to do any material damage. The grape-vine 

 beetle has always been the plaything or playmate 

 of the idle schoolboy. As this beetle flies in the 

 daytime and is not stupid hke the June-bug, it 

 affords more amusement. The lads tie a thread 

 around the body of the beetle between its arms and 

 its first pair of legs along the line separating the 

 thorax from the wing covers. If the knot is drawn 

 too tight it will cut the beetle into two pieces, but 

 if it is drawn just tight enough to keep 

 it from slipping off and the knot 

 brought roimd to the middle of the 

 back as shown on page 10, it will not 

 interfere with the beetle's movements 

 at all. And so the idle bovs in Ohio ^^ 



and Kentucky fasten a thread to the insect about 

 four feet long and the other end of the thread to a 

 switch or wand which they carry in their hand while 

 the beetle flies around overhead, to the boys' great 

 delight. The grape-vine beetle is a yellowish-brown 

 color with three dots on each wing cover and two 

 dots on its thorax. Underneath, the body is a 

 metallic or bronze green. The male is smaller than 

 the female and more inclined to be red, while the 

 female is larger than the male and more inclined to 



