INSECTS AND DISEASES. 251 



easily destroyed by syringing with tobacco-water.. The grape vine 

 flea-beetle (Haltica Chalybea), a small, glossy, greenish-blue beetle, 

 about three-twentieths of an inch long, sometimes preys upon the 

 buds, causing them to appear as if bored. This insect was first (we 

 believe) described by David Thomas, in Silliman's Journal of Science, 

 and is also noticed in " Harris's Treatise." The eggs are deposited 

 early, and soon change to a greenish, smooth worm, which preys upon 

 the tender leaf and young bunches. It is destroyed in this state by 

 syringing with tobacco-water, or sifting lime over the vines when wet 

 with dew. 



^Egeria Polistiformis, or, Grape-vine Borer. The roots of cul- 

 tivated grape vines, especially in the Southern States, are often so 

 much injured by this borer, as to prevent the ripening of the fruit, 

 and occasionally to cause death of the vine. " They are found about 

 the vines and on the wing, from the middle of June to the middle of 

 September, during which time they couple and lay their eggs, near 

 the roots of the vines, and the whitish grubs hatched therefrom will 

 be found boring into the bark and wood of the roots during Summer. 

 The winged insects are dark brown, tinged with tawny orange, vary- 

 ing from six to nine-tenths of an inch long. When fully grown these 

 grubs measure from one inch to one inch and three-quarters in 

 length. They undergo their transformations in oblong oval pods, 

 formed of a gummy kind of silk, covered with fragments of wood, bark, 

 and dirt, which will be found within, or adjacent to the injured roots. 

 The insects take the chrysalis form at various times during the Sum- 

 mer. The rings of the chrysalis are surrounded with minute teeth, 

 which assist the insect in coming forth from its pod or cocoon when 

 about to be changed to a moth." 



Eight-spotted Sphinx, or Alypia Octomaculata. There are two 

 insects, occasionally found on the grape vine, which, in their cater- 

 pillar state, closely resemble each other in form, size, color, and habits. 

 One of these is the beautiful Eudryas ; the other is the Sphinx, or 

 Alypia, above named. This Alypia, though common, and occasionally 

 so numerous as to be quite hurtful to the vine in some parts of the 

 United States, is very rare in New England. These caterpillars are 

 white, passing into blue, transversely banded with narrow black lines, 

 with a broader orange-colored band, dotted with black, on the middle 

 of each ring. The head and feet are also orange, dotted with black 

 The black dots on the body produce a few short whitish hairs. They 

 are found eating the leaves of the vine in the latter part of June and 

 beginning of July. Full grown specimens measured one inch and a 

 quarter, or more, in length. Before the 16th of July they leave the 

 vines, and conceal themselves in a loose web upon the surface of the 

 ground, and soon take the chrysalis form. Some are transformed to 

 moths in August ; others remain in the chrysalis state through the 

 Winter, and come forth winged in May and June. The winged in- 



