12S FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF 



Monthly. This " borer " is an old friend (?) of mine. It is found prin- 

 cipally in old rotten oak stumps; I hardly ever dig one out without 

 finding several of these worms. They are about two inches long, ta- 

 pering from head to tail, white bodies and black heads. I lose on an 

 average about 50 vines and dwarf pears annually by these little vil- 

 lains; probably twice as many pears as vines. I have had several 

 apple trees cut ofF by them, and one standard pear. The tree roots 

 seem often to be eaten entirely up, but the vine roots are only cut 

 through as if they had obstructed the line of travel. 



Tiiis is no new insect, but will I think probably be found trouble- 

 some whenever dwarf pears and vines are planted among decayed 

 oak stumps." 



Remedies. — Little can be done in the way of extirpating these un- 

 derground borers, when, as in the present instance, their presence is 

 only indicated by the approaching death of the vine. * Still, every 

 vineyardist should make it a rule to search for them wherever they 

 find vines suddenly dying from any cause unknown to them, and upon 

 finding such a borer should at once put an end to his existence. The 

 beetle which may frequently be found during the summer months, 

 should also be ruthlessly sacrificed wherever met with. I should also 

 advise not to plant a vineyard on land covered with old oak stumps, 

 and not to use oak stakes where those made of cedar can be had as 

 conveniently. 



THE GRAPE CURCULIO— Cceliodes incequalis, Say, 



(Celeoptera, Curculionidw.) 



The larva of this Curculio infests the grapes during the months of 

 June and July, causing a little black hole in the skin, and usually a 

 disfigurement and discoloration of the berry, 

 immediately around it as in Figure 70, a. The 

 larva (Fig. 70, h) is whitish as long as the berry 

 is green, but generally partakes of the color of 

 the berry as it matures. It is footless and like 

 the larvie of all snout-beetles is incapable of 

 £ spinning a web. In 1867 I found this insect 

 quite common in Southern Illinois, and as will 

 be seen from the excellent account of it given by Mr. Walsh in his 

 first report, it was very common in the States of Illinois, Ohio and 

 Kentucky, and it also occurred in our own State, as I am informed by 

 Mr. Peabody. From the middle to the last of July, this larva leaves 

 the berry and buries itself a few inches in the ground. Here it 

 changes to a pupa within a small, smooth earthen cavity, and by the 

 beginning of September the above named beetle issues from the 

 ground, and doubtless passes the winter in the beetle state, ready to 

 puncture the grapes again the following May or June. This beetle is 



