DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 



197 



ble varieties (Fig. 262) ; another form of the insect works on 

 the leaves, forming irregularities on the under sides. The in- 

 sect has always existed on American wild vines, yet it was 

 not until it had been introduced in Europe, where it has 

 wrought incalculable damage, that it attracted attention as a 

 vine pest. It rarely does serious damage in this country, ex- 

 cept in California, where European vines are grown. 

 "The use of American vines, either direct for tnt ^roduc- 



FlG. 262. The Grape-vine Phy'toTtra a, Root-galls; d, enlargement of same, 

 showing disposition of lice; <, root- gall louse, much enlarged. (U. S. Div. 

 of Entomology.) 



tion of fruit or as stocks on which to graft susceptible Euro- 

 pean and American varieties, has practically supplanted all 

 other measures against the insect in most of the infested 

 vineyards of the world." 



Grape-vine Flea-Beetle (Haltica chalybea (Fig. 263). This is 

 a small shining beetle about one-sixth of an inch long, usually 

 of a steel-blue color, but often varying from green to purple. 

 Many grape-growers have awakened some morning to find all 

 of their prospective crop of grapes literally " nipped in the 

 bud " by this pest. It has recently thus devastated hundreds of 

 acres of vineyards in the great grape-growing regions of New 

 York. Sometimes the insect apparently attacks a certain 

 variety in preference to others, and it also works on the Vir- 

 ginia creeper. 



After the beetles have satisfied their appetites, keen from 



