year the species was described by Mr. Walsh and given the name it 

 "still bears." Riley m 1879, in his First Report on the Injurious 

 Insects of ]\lissouri, regarded the insect as one of the worst pests of 

 the vine in that State, where it occurred abundantly and was mis- 

 called the rose bug ( Macrodadylus suhsinnosus). In 1893 and 

 subsequentl}- the insect became very injurious in vineyards in 

 northern Ohio, and was carefully investigated by Prof. F. M. Web-. 

 ster,^ who showed that the larvae or grubs of the beetle fed upon the 

 roots of the vine, causing much more serious damage than was caused 

 by the beetles in feeding upon the foliage. In 1 900 the insect was 

 discovered by Professor Slingerland <^ to occur in injurious numbers 

 in vineyards in the Chautauqua grape belt in western New York, 

 and during the three or four years following was carefully studied 

 by him and also by Dr. E. P. Felt, and effective remedial measures 

 were devised by extensive practical experiments. At the present 

 time the grape root-worm continues to be a pest of importance in 

 the vineyards of northern Ohio, the r>ie grape belt in Pennsylvania, 

 and the Chautauqua region of western New York. Throughout these 

 regions the insect on the whole seems to be diminishing in importance, 

 in part through natural agencies but more especially foJlowing ade- 

 quate cultivation of vineyards and the use of sprays. 



The insect thrives best in vineyards wliich are neglected; in the 

 absence of cultivation and timely sprajdng it is likely to become a seri- 

 ous pest in any vineyard tliroughout its range of distribution. This is 

 especially the case m light, sandy soils and in regions where grape 

 growing is a considerable industry. 



Description and Life History. 



Adult. — The beetle, or parent insect of the grape root-worm, is shown 

 enlarged at a, figure 1. It is about one-fourth of an inch long, rather 

 stout, with long legs, the body brownish in color and covered with 

 grayish wliite hairs. The adults make their appearance in vineyards 

 beginning about the close of the blooming period of the vines, which in 

 the New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio grape districts, during normal 

 seasons, will be from about the 15tli to about the 20tli of June. The 

 great majority of beetles will appear during the latter part of June and 

 the first two or tlu-ee weeks of July, though a few will be coming out 

 during the latter part of July, and stragglers may appear for a month 

 or six weeks later. In a given locality there will be some variation in 

 the time of appearance, which mil be earlier on light, sandy soils or 

 warmer locations and later on heavier soils. In the course of a few 

 days after emergence the beetles begin to feed, eating rows of holes in 

 the upper surface of the leaf, as shown in figure 1 at h. After some 

 days of feeding the females begin to deposit eggs, the number for an 

 individual female varying considerably. Doctor Felt '^ has obtained egg- 

 lajdng records of 156, 342, and 902 eggs, respectively, for three indi- 

 viduals, and the averages per insect from three lots of insects kept under 

 observation were 141, 192, and 488, respectively, the average for the 



o Practical Entomologist, Vol. 2, pp. 87-88 (1867). 

 &Bul. 62, Ohio Agrl. Exp. Station (1895). 

 c Bui. 184, Cornell Univ. Agrl. Exp. Station (1900). 

 d Bui. 19. Office State Ent. of N. Y., p. 20 (1903). 

 284 



