Em^W 





Vol. 6. 



Saia. Jose, Cal., June, 1375. 



ITo. 6. 



A NEW GRAPE-VINE PEST- 



Our attention was called by Mr. F. Garri- 

 gus, of Santa Clara, to the ravages of some 

 sort of a small bug, flea or fly that had at- 

 tacked Mr. Norman Porter's vineyard which 

 is situated upon chimasel land near the foot 

 of the mountains at the west of our valley. 

 Also, Mr. D. C. Feeley brought to our oflice 

 some of the same sort of insects, that he 

 said were attacking a small vineyard not his 

 own in the foot-hills of the same range. Af- 

 ter a look at the insects through a microscope, 

 we rode over to the Porter place, and in com- 

 pany with Mr. Stone, who has charge of the 

 farm and who kindly assisted us in bottling a 

 few more of the bugs, we made a close obser- 

 vation of the habits of the insect throughout 

 the vineyard. Then at home we again exam- 

 ined with the microscope. To the naked eye 

 the full-grown insect is about one-tenth of an 

 inch long, is dark-colored, has wings much 

 like those of a com-mon fly, prominent eyes, 

 oval body, and when it is approached exhibits 

 fear, and if disturbed, with a quick motion, 

 almost a hop, it either flies or drops to the 

 ground, where it seeks shelter under clods of 

 earth, dead weeds or other rubbish of any 

 kind. The young bugs, when first hatched, 

 look like tiny, light-colored spiders. As they 

 get larger they more nearly resemble the 

 green aphis in shape, not in color, and do 

 not get wings aijparently till the last shed- 

 ding of the skin. They work in groups and 

 where they attack a vine they first tap the 

 largest leaves and the bark near the base of 

 the' new growth of wood, and invariably take 

 the tenderest new growth last, seeming to 

 prefer a growth nearly matured to the tender 

 new shoots. They will cluster thickly upon 

 whatever they attack. As they rest upon the 

 vines their heads are always towards the ends 

 of the vines, and with such regularity do 

 they cluster upon the wood that one might 

 easily miss seeing them did not the vine 

 wither and the leaves dry up wherever the in- 

 sects infest them. Throughout the vineyard 

 of sixty acres the bugs seemed to be working 

 in some spots verj' badly, in others but little. 

 Some of the vines were apparently entirely 

 destroyed, and it was often that they made a 

 clean sweep of whatever vine they attacked. 

 In an adjoining young almond orchard of 

 thirty acres we found some, but they did not 

 seem to Uke the almond much. Several 

 young English walnut trees had been attacked, 

 some lower limbs killed but not the whole 

 tree. Several species of weeds were covered, 

 but a sort of annual milkweed that is very 

 abundant upon the place seemed to be the 

 favorite food. Mr. Stone thought that this 

 weed is what brought them there, and said 

 that it grew thickly in the vineyard and was 

 not plowed up last Spring until it was almost 



knee-high. The bugs swarm in almost count- 

 less millions in the half-buried stufl' that was 

 turned under, from the smallest to the largest 

 sized bugs. Mr. Stone had sprinkled sul- 

 phur and tried to kill the bugs, but had finally 

 given it up, as the very ground seemed so lull 

 of them. He had been advised to use car- 

 bolic acid, but as nothing less than a thunder 

 shower of it would reach them all, he de- 

 spaired of that remedy. We noticed particu- 

 larly that the bugs do not burrow in clean 

 earth, but resort to the foul stuff half-buried 

 in the soil. We advised raking the ground 

 clean and piling the dead weeds and rubbish 

 between the rows of vines, thus laying traps 

 for them. It seems that at night and when 

 the wind blows hard the bugs leave the vines 

 and seek a shelter. Where there was not 

 stuff enough upon the ground to burn readily, 

 we ad\'ised the adding of straw, and then 

 when the bugs were all collected in the shel- 

 ters thus provided, to apply the torch. We 

 are of the opinion that this pest, alarming as 

 it seems to be and is, can easily and cheaply 

 be destroyed in this way, so that but little 

 damage to vineyards will necessarily result. 

 We do not blame the vineyard men for being 

 alarmed, only we wish they were less inclined 

 to keep the matter a secret, fearing it would in- 

 jure their prospects in case they should desire 

 to dispose of their property. We understand 

 that Norman Porter's fine vineyard and or- 

 chard have been before the market for some 

 time, and we were cautioned to say nothing 

 to injure him. We certainly have no desire 

 to. His 90 acres of almonds and choice va- 

 rieties of grapes must be a fortune to any one 

 in spite of bugs, if properly managed. Be- 

 sides, such bugs only make their appearance 

 once or twice in a generation, and at most 

 only last two or three years at a time ; and if 

 they can easily be destroyed, as we have no 

 doubt they can be, the damage will be trifling 



indeed. 



Microscopically we have made but a par- 

 tial examination. The insect belongs to the 

 order Hemipteka. Although in some respects 

 it is closely allied to the Aphidida;, it is really 

 a Ckadadie. In other woi-ds, it is more of a 

 harvest fly than a plant louse. It is some- 

 thing like the vine-fretter of Europe and the 

 leaf-hopper of the East, that so nearly de- 

 stroyed the vineyards that some persons aban- 

 doned their grapevines many years ago. But 

 as we fail to find an accurate description of 

 this bug, we think it a distinct variety, peculiar 

 to our climate. When we take into consid- 

 eration, for instance, the fact that over 4,000 

 species of wevils have actually been scientific- 

 ally named and described, what need we won- 

 der that we have here a harvest bug somewhat 

 different from what has been observed in any 

 other country? And why should not we take 

 a little pride in thinking we have a bug of 



California? 



has no 



This bug does not eat, 

 jaws, but lives upon the juices of the plants, 

 which it draws through a horny, black beak, 

 attached to the under side of itM face, and 

 which lies bent under the breast, reaching to 

 the abdomen, when not in use. Attached to 

 this beak, near its hilt, is a sharp, needle-like 

 lance, with which to puncture the bark before 

 applying its beak. Its head and thorax is 

 half the length of its body, which is an elon- 

 gated oval. The antenna, or feelers, are 

 three-jointed, and about the length of its 

 beak, which is also three-jointed. The hind 

 leys are not larger than the others, but the 

 thighs are dark-colored. All the feet are three- 

 jointed, and the last joint is dark-colored. 

 The foot has two claws, one of which is much 

 stronger than the other. The wings slope to 

 the sides slightly; wing-covers transparent. 

 When crushed between the fingers it emits a 

 chinch or bed-bug odor. The full-sized insect 

 has few marks or stripes, and is a chocolate 

 color, darkest on its shoulders. The young 

 are more or less colored from a light straw to 

 a deep orange in blotches with chocolate. We 

 think the young are hatched before leaving 

 the abdomen of the female, but of this we are 

 not certain. There is little transformation 

 during the difi'ertnt stages of growth until the 

 full-grown winged insect appears.. 



A perfect description of this insect, which 

 we are not now prepared to give, would be 

 mainly interesting to scientific readers. But 

 everyone who either owns a grape vine or 

 eats a grape must feel an interest in the ad- 

 vent of this bug. How to prevent and how 

 to destroy this grape-pest is a matter of much 

 concern. To learn its correct name, to as- 

 certain its nature and habits, so as to best 

 understand how to accomplish its destruction 

 is the work of the scientist, and everyone is 

 a scientist to the extent that he understands 

 the facts, principles and nature of things, and 

 how to apply means to accomplish a given 

 end. 



Addenda. — Since writing the above we have 

 seen Mr. Stone again. He found that the 

 traps of weeds and straw would not work, as 

 the bugs would be close to the ground under 

 the piles, and as soon .as the flame was put 

 to them they would scatter, and by the time 

 the heat reached the ground the bugs would 

 be gone. But Mr. Stone has tried kerosene 

 with success. One-third kerosene and two- 

 thirds water sprinkled upon the vines would 

 kill all the bugs it touched and prevent the 

 bugs from again attacking the vines once wet 

 with the kerosene. Mr. Stone is sure that 

 he now has the power to save the vines from 

 the bugs. Our theory, though plausible, 

 would not stand the practice, which after all 

 is the only reUable test. The only question 

 now is, how much kerosene will the grape- 



as well as a locust of cor own in | vines stand without being killed or injuerd, 



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