TIIE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. CO 



suits, will doubtless be rewarded by new and important discoveries, 

 and will render valuable service to the cause of science and of econ- 

 omic entomology. 



The first reference to this insect was briefly made by Dr. Fitch, of 

 New York, in the year 1856,** and he subsequently described it in a 

 very insufficient manner, under the name of Pemphigus vitifoliw ,'* 

 but though the specific name must be retained, the insect was wrongly 

 referred to the genus Pemphigus, as we shall presently see. Ten 

 years afterwards this louse was again referred to by myself in the 

 Prairie Farmer for August 3, 1866, and during the fall of the same 

 year articles were written upon it by Dr. Shimer,f and by my late as- 

 sociate, Mr. Walsh J — the former claiming that it was a true Plant- 

 louse (Aphis family), and the latter that it was a Bark-louse (Coccus 

 family). In this Dr. Shimer was evidently right, and Mr. Walsh 

 wrong. In January, 1867, Dr. Shimer proposed for this insect a new 

 family (Dactylospil.erid.e),§ which, in my opinion, cannot stand. 



But not to weary the general reader with purely scientific ques- 

 tions, I shall give the reasons for my opinion on this point, together 

 with some other details, in smaller type at the close. 



This louse was subsequently treated of by Mr. Walsh in his report 

 as Acting State Entomologist of Illinois (pp. 21-24), where he still 

 felt inclined to place it with the Bark-lice, though I have good reason 

 to believe that he afterwards changed his mind. During all this time 

 a serious disease of the roots of the Grape-vine began to attract at- 

 tention in the south of France, and it finally caused such alarm that 

 the Minister of Agriculture and Commerce in France offered a prize 

 of 20,000 francs for the discovery of an efficacious and practical rem- 

 edy. 



A special commission was also appointed to draw up a programme 

 of conditions, examine memoirs submitted "to it, settle the experi- 

 ments to be made, collect evidence from local commissions, and if 

 they saw reason for so doing, to award the prize offered by govern- 

 ment. The commission consisted of M. Dumas, M. Milne Edwards 

 and M. Duchartre, of the Paris Academy of Sciences ; M. Gervais, M. 

 Planchon, M. Henri Mares and M. Louis Yialla, of Montpellier ; the 

 Comte de Vergue, of Gironde ; M. Bedel, of Vaucluse, and three 

 members of the Ministry of Agriculture. 



The disease is known as pourridie, or rotting. It is in the form 

 of little cankerous spots, which cut off the supply of nourishment 

 and cause the roots to rot, and these spots were ascertained by 

 MM. Planchon and Lichtenstein, of Montpellier, to be caused by a 

 louse (Phylloxera vastatrix, Planchon,) which bears a close resem- 



** N. Y. Rep. I, p. 158. 



* Rep. 3, I 117. 



f Prairie farmer, Nov. 3 and Dec. 8, 1866. 



% Pract. Ent., Vol. I, p. Ill ; Vol. II, p. 19 ; and Proc. Ent. Soc, Phil., VI, pp. 283-4, notes. 



I Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci., Phil., Jan. 1867. 



