DISEASES OF THE VINE. ] 605 



which devours the young foliage and sometimes also 

 the inflorescences in April and May, but ceases to 

 molest the vine as soon as in the ordinary course 

 of treatment for other diseases, it is sprayed with 

 Bordeaux mixture, or dusted with sulphur containing 

 3 to 5 per cent, of sulphur of copper. This small beetle, 

 with dark bluish green head and thorax, and yellow 

 elytrae, is also well known for its devastations in the 

 rose garden etc., but as its larva breeds in the ground, 

 it is usually beyond the reach of remedial measures. 

 The large chocolate-coloured beetle, Oryctes nasicotnis, 

 L. occasionally breeds in the rotten wood at the base 

 of old stems of vines and other trees, but has little 

 pathological importance. Melolontha vulgaris, L the 

 May bug, feeds upon the roots of the vine all over 

 the continent. The same habit has Anomala Vitis, 

 Fabr. which occasionally causes much havoc in the 

 vineyards of Central and Lower Italy. The large fat, 

 grey larva of Geolruf>4S laevigatiis, Fb. (M..=6ugAauu&r) 

 lives on the thick roots of the vine and other trees and 

 plants, close to the surface of the ground, and may 

 cut down or destroy young vines. This larva is met 

 with practically all the year, and is kept down by 

 digging and stirring frequently the soil around the 

 stems of vines. Various species of Otiorrhynchus, such 

 as O raucus, Fb., O. picipes, Fb., O. sulcatus, Fb., 

 O. nigritus, Schh , O. lugens, Germ, O. Ligustici, L., 

 and especially O. armatus, Boehm, prey also on the 

 roots of the vine in Italy, France and Germany, but 

 the local species of Otiorrhynchus do not appear to 

 cause appreciable trouble in our vineyards. Rhynchites 

 betuleti, Fb., feeds on the leaves of the vine in central 

 Italy, and is sometimes the object of special enactments 

 to keep it in check, Haltica ampelophaga, Guer. a very 

 small beetle of metallic green hue, teeds on the tender 

 foliage and flowers of the vine in Italy, France, Spain 



