444 INSECT PESTS OF FARM, GARDEN AND ORCHARD 



days their feeding commences to be noticed on the leaves and the 

 females may be found laying their eggs. A female will lay from 

 150 to 900 eggs, averaging about 175, most of which are laid 

 during the first two or three weeks. The eggs are laid in masses 

 of 25 to 40 beneath the old bark or generally over the canes. 

 The individual egg is one-twenty-fifth inch long, at first whitish, 

 but soon turns yellow, and tapers at each end. The eggs hatch 

 in from nine to twelve days, when the young larvae drop to the 

 ground and seek the roots. The young larvae are only one- 

 seventeenth inch long, so that they are able to penetrate the soil. 

 When established on the roots they feed freely and grow rapidly, 



FIG. 373. The tender pupa of the grape root-worm in its earthen cell, 

 enlarged natural size at n. (After Slingerland.) 



becoming nearly full grown by fall. In the fall they descend 

 several inches into the soil and make small earthen cells, in which 

 they hibernate. In the spring they return to the roots nearer 

 the surface, and those not already full grown feed until growth 

 is completed. They then make small earthen cells 2 or 3 inches 

 below the surface of the ground in which they transform to pupae. 

 These cells are easily broken open and the pupae are thus crushed 

 or killed by stirring the soil in cultivation. The pupa, shown 

 in Fig. 3736, is one-quarter to one-third inch long, whitish, with 

 the head, thorax and tip of the abdomen pinkish, and with spines 

 on the head, appendages, and abdomen as illustrated. The pupae 

 are most abundant in New York during June, the pupal stage 

 lasting about two weeks. 



