GRANARY. 



GRAPE-VINE CATERPILLAR. 



Whether wheat and other grain suffers to any 

 extent in this country, from either of these 

 weevils,! have not been able to ascertain, as the 

 accounts given of the ravages of the insects 

 supposed to be weevils are rarely accompanied 

 by any description of them in their different 

 states. 



"Rice is attacked by an insect closely resem- 

 bling the wheat-weevil, from which, however, 

 it is distinguished, by having two large red 

 spots on each wing cover ; it is also somewhat 

 smaller, measuring only about one-tenth of an 

 inch in length, exclusive of the snout. This 

 beetle, the Culandra (Sitophilus') Oryzec, or rice- 

 weevil, is not entirely confined to rice, but 

 depredates upon maize or Indian corn also. I 

 have seen stored Southern corn swarming with 

 them ; and, should they multiply and extend in 

 this section of the country, they will become a 

 source of serious injury to one of the most valu- 

 able of our staple productions. It is said that this 

 weevil lays its eggs on the rice in the fields, as 

 soon as the grain begins to swell. If this in- 

 deed be true, we have very little to fear from it 

 here, our Indian corn being so well protected by 

 the husks that it would probably escape from 

 any injury, if attacked. On the contrary, if the 

 insect multiply in stored grain, then our utmost 

 care will be necessary to prevent them from 

 infesting our own garners. The parent beetle 

 bores a hole into the grain, and drops therein a 

 single egg, going from one grain to another till 

 all her eggs are laid. She then dies, leaving, 

 however, the rice well seeded for a future har- 

 vest of weevil-grubs. In due time the eggs 

 are hatched, the grubs live securely and un- 

 seen in the centre of the rice, devouring a con- 

 siderable portion of the substance, and when 

 fully grown they gnaw a little hole through the 

 end of the grain, artfully stopping it up again 

 with particles of rice-flour, and then arechangi-d 

 to pupce. This usually occurs during the winter; 

 and in the following spring the insects are 

 transformed to beetles, and come out of the 

 grain. By winnowing and sifting the rice in 

 the spring, the beetles can be separated, and 

 should then be gathered immediately and de- 

 stroved." (Harris.) See CORX-MOTH. 



GRANARY. A place where corn is stored. 

 These have of necessity been constructed in 

 all ages of the world, and of different mate- 

 rials, according to the facilities afforded for 

 their construction by the neighbourhood in 

 which they are placed ; in England they are 

 commonly, for farming purposes, made of 

 wood or brick. In Sicily the public granaries 

 are in some places hollowed out of the solid 

 rock. According to a modern authority (Brit. 

 Hush. vol. i. p. 94), " The best situation for a 

 granary is over the thrashing-floor. It may be 

 easily secured from vermin; and requiring 

 only six feet in height, it will not interfere ma- 

 terially with the bays of the barn, especially if 

 they be loaded through the gables. A trap-door 

 in the floor, with a rope and pulley, raises and 

 lowers the load in the most easy manner, be- 

 sides securing it more effectually from depre- 

 dators ; and strong wired windows at each end 

 ventilate it sufficiently. The most general 

 mode, however, of forming granaries, is to 

 erect them of timber, and place them upon pil- 



lars of stone or wood." It has been suggested 

 that corn kept in granaries would be effectually 

 protected from the ravages of the weevil, by 

 mixing with it a small quantity of common 

 salt. See CORX-MOTH, WEEVIL, and CORN. 



GRAPE-VINE. SeeVixE. 



GRAPE-VINE CATERPILLAR. Every 

 person, says Dr. Harris, who has paid any 

 attention to the cultivation of the grape-vine in 

 this country, must have observed upon it, be- 

 sides the large sphynx caterpillars that devour 

 its leaves, a small blue caterpillar transversely 

 banded with deep orange across the middle of 

 each ring, the bands being dotted with black, 

 with the head and feet also orange, the top of 

 the eleventh ring somewhat bulging, and the 

 forepart of the body hunched up when the 

 creature is at rest. These caterpillars begin to 

 appear about the middle of July, and others are 

 hatched aAerwards, as late, perhaps, as the 

 middle of August. When not eating, they 

 generally rest upon the under-sides of the 

 leaves, and, though many may be found on one 

 vine, they do not associate with each other. 

 They live on the common creeper as well as 

 on the grape-vine. They eat all parts of the 

 leaves, even to the midrib and stalks. When 

 fully grown, and at rest, they measure an inch 

 and a quarter, but stretch out, in creeping, to 

 the length of an inch and a half or more. 

 Towards the end of August they begin to dis- 

 appear, and no more will be found on the vines 

 after September. They creep down the vines 

 in the night, and go into the ground, burying 

 themselves three or four inches deep, and turn 

 to chrysalids without making cocoons. The 

 chrysalis is dark-brown, and rough, with ele- 

 vated points. The moths begin to come out of 

 the ground as soon as the 25th of June, 

 and others continue to appear till the 20th 

 of July. Though of small size, they are very 

 beautiful, and far surpass all others of the fa- 

 mily in delicacy of colouring and design. The 

 name of this moth is Ewlryat grata, the first 

 word signifying beautiful wood nymph, and the 

 second agreeable or pleasing. The antennae are 

 rather long, almost thread-like, tapering to the 

 end, and not feathered in either sex. The fore- 

 wings are pure white, with a broad stripe along 

 the front edge, extending from the shoulder a 

 little beyond the middle of the edge, and a 

 broad band around the outer hind margin, of a 

 deep purple-brown colour ; the band is edged 

 internally with olive-green, and marked towards 

 the edge with a slender wavy white line ; near 

 the middle of the wing, and touching the brown 

 stripe, are two brown spots, one of them round 

 and the other kidney-shaped ; and on the mid- 

 dle of the inner margin there is a large tri- 

 angular olive-coloured spot; the under-side of 

 the same wing is yellow, and near the middle 

 there are a round and a kidney-shaped black 

 i spot The hind-wings are yellow above and 

 beneath ; on the upper-side with a broad pur- 

 ple-brown hind border on which there is a 

 wavy white line, and on the under-side with 

 only a central black dot. The head is black. 

 Along the middle of the thorax there is a broad 

 crest-like stripe of black and pearl-coloured 

 glittering scales. The shoulder-covers are 

 , white. The upper side of the abdomen is yel- 



567 



