Injurious 



GRAPE MANUAL. 



Insects. 69 



a hirge brood of chickens, and had them so well 

 trained that all he had to do was to start them 

 in the vinej^ard, with a boy in front to shake the 

 infested vines, and he himself behind the chicks. 

 They picked up every beetle that fell to the 

 ground ; and next season he could scarcely tind 

 a single Fidia. 



The Grape-vine Ft.ea-beetle. 

 (Naltica chal>jbca.) 



Fis. 90. 



o, larva, natural size; b, do. magiiified; c, cocoon; 



d, beetle, cnlarj^ed. 



Like all Flea-beetles, this insect has very stout, 

 swollen high thighs, by means of which it is en- 

 abled to jump about very energetically, and is 

 consequently very difficult to capture. The color 

 of the beetle varies from steel-blue to metallic 

 green and purple. The beetles hibernate in a tor- 

 pid state under any shelter, such as loose bark, 

 crevices of stakes, etc., and they are roused to ac- 

 tivity quite early in the spring, doing the greatest 

 damage at this early season by boring into and 

 scooping out the unopened buds. As the leaves 

 expand, they feed on these, and soon pair and de- 

 poisit their small orange eggs in clusters on the 

 under side of the leaf. These eggs soon hatch 

 into dark-colored larv;e, which may be found of 

 all sizes during the latter part of May and early 

 part of June, generally on the upper side of the 

 leaf, which they riddle, devouring all but the 

 largest ribs. Spraying with the Bordeaux mix- 

 ture is the most satisfactory remedy. 



The Gigantic Koot-boker. 



(Prionus laticoUis.) 



Apple, the Pear, and the Grape, to which it is 

 very destructive. It follows the roots, entirely 

 severing them in many instances so that the vines 

 soon die. When fully grown it leaves the roots 

 it was inhabiting, and foims a smooth, oval cham- 

 ber in the earth, wherein it assumes the pupa 

 form. If the roots are larger, it remains within 

 them to undergo its changes. The perfect insect 

 is a large, dark brown beetle, which first appears 

 towards the end of June, and is very commonly 

 found during the summer and fall months, rush- 

 ing (often with a heavy, noisy flight) into lighted 

 rooms. Prof. Riley has shown that this borer not 

 only attacks living trees and vines, but that it also 

 breeds in dead oak stumps, and can travel through 

 the ground from one place to another; from 

 which fact he draws the important corollary that 

 it will not do to leave oak stumps to rot on ground 

 which is intended for a vineyard — a fact which 

 our experience corroborates. Little can be done 

 in the way of extirpating these underground 

 borers, their presence being only indicated by the 

 the death of the vine. Whenever you find vines 

 dying from any unknown cause, search for this 

 borer, and upon finding one (in each case we have 

 found but one at each tree or vine), put an end to 

 its existence. 



The Grape-berry Moth. 



{Lobesia botrana.) 



Fig. 91. 



This large borer is often met with in and about 

 the roots of several kinds of plants, such as the 



a, niotli; 6, worm; c, hole made in berry; d, rotting 

 l)erry, caused l)y worm. 



This insect first attracted attention about thirty 

 years ago. About the first of July the grapes that 

 are attacked by the worm begin to stiow a dis- 

 colored spot at the point where the worm entered. 

 Upon opening such a grape the inmate will be 

 found at the end of a winding channel. It con- 

 tinues to feed on the pulp of the fruit, and upon 

 reaching the seeds generally eats out their in- 

 terior. As soon as the grape is touched the worm 

 will wriggle out of it, and rapidly let itself to the 

 ground bj' means of its ever-ready silken thread, 

 unless care be taken to prevent it from so doing. 

 The cocoon is often formed on the leaves of the 

 r^^^^ vine, in a manner essentially character- 

 istic: the worm cuts a clean oval flap, 

 leaving it hinged on one side, and, rolling 

 the flap over, fastens it to the leaf, and 

 thus forms for itself a cosy little house, 

 in which it changes to a clnysalis. In 

 about ten days after this last change 

 takes place, the chrysalis works itself 

 out of the cocoon and the little moth 

 represented in the Ijgure (hair-lines 

 showing natural size) makes its escape. 

 As a remedy we recommend picki-ng up all fallen 

 berries and converting them into vinegar, as upon 



