THE COLEOPTERA 



125 



The adult beetle (Fig. 116) is slightly larger and broader in proportion to 

 its length than the Common Asparagus Beetle. It is orange-red or brick-red 

 above except for twelve black dots on the elytra. The life history and habits 

 do not seem to differ much from those of the other species except in the follow- 

 ing features. The beetle appears to depend upon flight rather than upon dodg- 

 ing around the stems to escape its enemies: the egg is not attached by one 

 end but by a side, to the plant; the larva feeds inside the berries and is orange 

 to yellowish in color. The hibernating insects feed on the young plants like the 

 other species but the beetles of later generations feed on the berries. Control is 



similar to that for the Common Asparagus Beetle 



except that dusting with air-slaked lime will not 



reach the larvae. 



The Grape-root Worm (Fidia viticida Walsh). 



The Grape-root Worm appears to be a native 



IF*- ^T-^-i ^K- m 



m 



FIG. 116. FIG. 117. 



FIG. 116. Adult Twelve-spotted Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris duodecimpunctata 

 L.) nearly six times natural size. (From U. S. D. A. Farm. Bull. 837.) 



FIG. 117. Adult Grape-root Worm (Fidia viticida Walsh), about natural size, and 

 its work on a grape leaf. (Modified from Cornell Exp. Sta. Bull. 208.) 



of this country and is found from New York to North Carolina (and 

 Florida?) and west to Dakota, Missouri and Texas. There is also a California 

 record for it but it appears to be largely replaced there, by the California 

 Grape-root worm (Bromius obscurus L.). The insect passes the winter as 

 the nearly- or full-grown larva, a number of inches deep in the ground, but in 

 spring it comes nearer the surface and feeds on the roots of the grape until full 

 grown. Pupation usually occurs two or three inches below the surface and the 

 adult beetles begin to emerge about the time blossoming of the grape ends, most 

 of them appearing during a period of 4 or 5 weeks. The beetles (Fig. 117) are 

 brown, covered with whitish hairs; are rather stout, about a quarter of an inch 

 long and have long legs. They feed on the grape leaves, making irregular holes, 

 often so connected as to form narrow, crooked slits. The eggs are laid, several 

 hundred in all, placed in clusters of about 30 or 40, mainly under loose strips 

 of bark. These hatch in about 10 days and the tiny grubs drop to the ground 

 and work down to the roots consuming the smaller ones entirely and burrowing 

 in the larger ones, until winter, when they are full grown or nearly so. 



When these insects are abundant the grape vines may be killed in a year or 

 two but the usual result of their presence is to so check the growth of the plants 

 that little or no crop is obtained. The grape-raising territory of western New 

 York, Pennsylvania and Ohio appears to suffer most from the attacks of this pest. 



