THE PHYLLOXERA, OB GRAPE LOUSE OF THE VINE. 117 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



THE PHYLLOXERA, OR GRAPE LOUSE OF THE VINE. 



(Phylloxera vastatrix. Planchon.) 



Order : Hemiptera. Sub-order : Homoptera. Family : Aphida. 



The aerial apterous or wingless female of this most ter- 

 rible scourge to the vignerons of Europe, America, and 

 elsewhere, has, according to Mr. Buckton, from whose 

 fine work the scientific descriptions here given have been 

 taken, "a body nearly circular, flask-shaped, drawn out 

 at the tail, which ends in a short and truncated ovipositor. 

 Colour amber-yellow, fuscous or ferruginous ; spotted 

 from the numerous eggs which fill the body cavity. Head 

 and tail-ends slightly browner. Eyes black, and very 

 small. Antennae short and very fine, three jointed, the 

 last being much the longest. Legs very small, scarcely 

 protruding beyond the body. Rostrum about one-fourth 

 the length of the body. 



" This insect is the immediate produce of the true ovum, 

 which was laid in the autumn by the sexed female. Her 

 history, after exclusion from the eggs, is probably some- 

 what different according to the climate, and perhaps the 

 character of the vine on which it occurs. 



" The aerial (above ground) forms are rare in the colder 

 climates, but they increase in frequency as we go south- 

 wards or cross into America. Where the aerial forms 

 occur, the foundress punctures the leaves in such a manner 

 that the swelling masses close over and finally entomb 

 her. The leaves become studded over the surface (and 

 particularly near the edges) with gall-like masses, many 

 of which are pedunculate. Each foundress appears to 

 form a single gall, within which she lays hundreds, or even 

 thousands, of yellow egg-like bodies. This oviposition 

 continues through the summer, after which operation she 

 dies. 



