INSECT ENEMIES OF THE GRAPE. 213 



The Grapevine Plume (Pterophorus perisceli- 

 dactylus, Fitch). Although this is one of the smallest 

 of the moths infesting the grape, it is, at the same time, 

 one of the most troublesome and destructive. Just 

 about the time the bearing canes of the vine begin to 

 show embryo flower clusters, the leaves around these are 

 found drawn together and fastened with fine silken 

 threads, and upon opening these folded leaves will be 

 found one or two small, greenish-white hairy caterpil- 

 lars, as art a, Fig. 82, and d, the little moth. These cat- 

 erpillars, if undisturbed, soon destroy the embryo clus- 

 ters of flowers and prevent the production of fruit. 

 These pests are so 

 securely enclosed 

 within the folded 

 leaves that they can- 

 not be reached with 

 ordinary insecti- 

 cides, and the only 

 way of destroying 

 them is to examine 

 the vines daily and 

 pick out the cater- FIG - 83 - 



pillars by hand. This grapevine plume remains for only 

 a very short time in spring, the caterpillars soon leaving 

 the vines ; but while they are on it they can do a great 

 amount of damage, but no more than the following : 



The Grape-leaf Folder (Desmia maculalis). In 

 Fig. 83 a male and female moth, with one of the cater- 

 pillars half enclosed in a folded leaf, is shown, all three 

 copied from the "American Entomologist," Vol. II, 1869. 

 Dr. Kiley, in describing this insect, says that the moth 

 is a very pretty thing, expanding, on an average, almost 

 an inch, with length of body about one third of an inch. 

 The color is black, with an opalescent reflection, and the 

 under surface differs only from the upper in being less 



