278 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE. 



of destruction by eating away the substance of the buds as 

 soon as they begin to swell, thus destroying many bunches of 



FIG. 286. 



FIG. 287. 



grapes in embryo. It goes 

 on with this work for about 

 a month, when it gradually 

 disappears. Before leaving, 

 however, the beetle provides 

 for the continuance of its 

 race by depositing little 

 clusters of orange-colored 

 eggs on the under side of 

 the young vine leaves, which 

 in a few days produce colo- 

 nies of small, dark-brown 

 larvae, which feed on the 

 upper side of the leaves, 

 riddling them, and when 

 numerous they devour the 

 whole leaf except the larger 

 veins, and sometimes en- 

 tirely strip the vines of foli- 

 age. Fig. 287 represents 

 the larvae in various stages 

 of growth at work on the vine, accompanied also by some 

 of the beetles. 



In three or four weeks the larva attains full growth, when 

 it is a little more than three-tenths of an inch long, usually 



