1^5 



above facts, and requesting a copious supply of infested grapes. These 

 he obligingl\^ forwarded me in excellent order, and by this means I 

 liave been enabled to trace the progress of our newly discovered Grape 

 Curculio from the larva to the perfect beetle state. In the following 

 paragraphs I have, partly from my own observations, partly from 

 the statements of the above-named gentlemen, and partly from certain 

 general laws known to apply to the whole of this pernicious group of 

 insects — the Snout-beetles — drawn up as full a history as possible of 

 •this seemingly insignificant, but really very important foe of the 

 grape-grower. 



Late in June, or early in July,or a little earlier or later, according 

 to the latitude, berries may be observed coloring very slightly upon 

 one side, as if prematurely ripening, Not long afterwards a dark 

 circular dot may be noticed in the middle of the colored spot, as if a 

 common pin had been thrust red-hot into the berry. The infested 

 berry does not rot or decay, but, with the exception of the puncture 

 and the slight discoloration, remains to the last perfectly sound and 

 plump, so far as external appearance goes. Hence the work of the 

 Grape Curculio may be always readily distinguished from the so-called 

 and very appropriately named "Rot," which is caused, not by any 

 insect, but by a microscopically minute fungus. Towards the end 

 'of July, if one of these infested berries is cut into, the larva may be 

 generally found burrowing in the flesh and surrounded — as is always 

 the case with the larvae of Snout-beetles and of Moths — by what is 

 technically termed "frass;" that is to say, solid, hard pellets of ex- 

 crement, of a round, oval, or short-cylindrical shape, and looking at 

 first sight, like so many grain of gunpowder, their size varying, ac- 

 cording to the size of the insect, from that of the finest Sporting Pow- 

 der to that of the coarsest Cannon Powder. Usually, but not always, 

 the larva gnaws away a part of one of the pips of the grape. As soon 

 as it has got its growth, it drops out of the berry, where up to this 

 time it has kept itself carefully secluded from view, on to the ground, 

 unless, which happens sometimes, the berry has previously fallen to 

 the ground off the bunch — burrows a little distance under the surface 

 — scoops out for itself a small cell in the moist earth by wriggling its 

 body round and round — and there transforms into the pupa state. 

 The pupa I have not seen, but from analogy it must be a whitish or 

 blackish creature, intermediate in robustness between the perfect 

 beetle(fig. ])and the larva (fig. lb), incapable of either walking, eating 

 or discharging fceces, with rudimentary wings pressed tightly against 

 the side of its body, and with legs and antennae regularly arranged in 

 a backward direction along its lower surface. The above operations take 



