OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 57 



of common fly poison, mixed with sweetened water and whisky, [the 

 fly stone of druggists is intended, it being an ore containing cobalt 

 and arsenic]. The moths sip the poison, and die Irom it, and I find 

 them scattered over the farm for a space of several hundred yards." 

 Mr. White's testimony corroborates that of manyotliers who have 

 killed these large Sphinx moths in the same manner. 



THE GRAPE PHYLLOXERA.* 



I havo little in the natural history of this insect to add to the ac- 

 count given in last year's Report; nor have I found any occasion to 

 alter the views then and there given. A few remarks, however, em- 

 bodying the observations and discoveries of the year, on such an im- 

 portant insect, will naturally be expected. The reader can get some 

 idea of the interest attaching to this insect when I state that in a 

 bibliographical reviewf lately published by my friends Planchon and 

 Lichtenstein, notices and summaries are given of 481: articles or trea- 

 tises published during the four years of 1868-71. 



aiORTALITY OF ^'IXIOS LAST SPKING. 



There was very general complaint last spring of vine mortality, 

 and this not from one but from many sections of our vine-growing 

 country. This unusual mortality has been attributed to a variety of 

 causes; and, after citing the views of a few grape-growers and horti- 

 culturists whose eminence and reputation entitle them to respect, and 

 whose experience adds weight to their opinions, I shall endeavor to 

 show how the Phylloxera, though generally left entirely out of the 

 calculation,' had much to do with the singular death of vines in the 

 spring of 1872. In quoting these opinions, and to save time and aid 

 precision, I shall italicize and number such passages as I wish more 

 particularly to call attention to afterward. 



First, we have the editorial opinion of the Bural Wo7'Id^ as given 

 in the following quotations from the number of that journal for June 

 1st, 1872: 



*This Avorfl, though it really means '-withered-leaf," has already become so well known and 

 popular that it is as significant to the vine-grower as are the words ' ' root-louse " and " gall-louse ; ■ ' 

 and has the advantage of tersely expressing and comprehending both these compound terms. It is also 

 being used to designate the disease caused by Phylloxera vastatrix Planchon, (the scientific name 

 vastatrix is universally being employed, and Fitch's vitifolicB will have to give way,) just as the 

 generic term Oidium is popularly used to designate the mildew caused by Oidium Tuckcri. The term 

 Phylloxera will, therefore, in future not only apply to the insect, but to its effect on the Vine. 



\ Lc Phylloxera; Foils acquis el Revue Bibliographiquc, par J. E. Planchon f< J. Lichtenstein. 

 Montx^ellier, 1872. 



