56 Insects. 



BUSHBEKG CATALOGUE. 



Insects. 



Fig. 79. 



THE GBAPE LEAF-HOPPER. 



(Erythroneura vitis.) 



Fig. 80. 



GKAPK LEAF-FOLDER : 1, larva; 2, head and thoracic joints, 

 enlarged; 3, chrysalis; 4,5, male and female moths. 



V ery generally but erroneously called Thrips. This is 

 one of the most troublesome insects the grape-grower 

 has to deal with. It is a very active little thing, run- 

 ning sideways like a crab, and dodging round quickly 

 to the other side when approached. It jumps with 

 great vigor, and congregates in great crowds upon the 

 under side of the leaf, pumping up the sap, and thus 

 causing numerous brown dead spots, and often killing 

 the leaf entirely. A vine badly infested with these 

 leaf-hoppers wears a speckled, rusty and sickly appear- 

 ance, while the leaves often drop prematurely and the 

 fruit in consequence fails to ripen. There are several 

 species which attack the vine all belonging to the 

 same genus, however, and only differing in color. The 

 natural history of this insect is not recorded by ento- 

 mologists, but Prof. Riley informs us that the eggs are 

 thrust into the leaf-stems, and particularly along the 

 larger veins of the under side of the leaves. Tobacco- 

 water and soapsuds, to be syringed on the vines, are re- 

 commended in the books as a remedy. Syringing the 

 vines with the following mixture one gill kerosene, 

 two pounds whale-oil soap, one pound tobacco soap, 

 and eighty gallons water is said to destroy the green 

 fly and thrip, and to be also a good remedy against the 

 red spider and the mealy bug. Fumigations of tobacco 

 stems will also be found effectual for destroying aphis 

 and thrip. But we would recommend passing between 

 the rows with a torch in the evening, smearing the 

 stakes in the spring with soft soap or other sticky sub- 

 stance, and burning, the leaves in the fall. The hop- 

 pers fly to the light of the torch ; and as they pass the 

 winter under leaves, loose bark of the stakes, &c., 

 cleanliness in and about the vineyard is of the first 

 importance in checking their ravages. The torch re- 

 medy is most effectual when three persons work in 

 company, one between two rows with the torch, and 

 one on the further side of each of the rows to give the 

 trellis a slight shake and disturb the hoppers. Tobacco 

 stalks or waste thrown on the ground 

 in a grapery effectually protect the vines. 



THE GRAPE LKAF-FOLDER. 



(Desmia maculatis.) 



This is a worm of grass-green color, 

 very active ; wriggling, jumping and 

 jerking either way at every touch. It 

 folds rather than rolls the leaf, by fasten- 

 ing two portions together by its silken threads. The 

 chrysalis is formed within the fold of the leaf. The moth 

 is conspicuously marked with black and white, all the 

 wings being bordered and spotted as in the annexed 



figures. The male is distinguished from the female by 

 his elbowed antennae, thickened near the middle, while 

 those of the female are simple and thread-like, The 

 moths appear in early spring, but the worms are not 

 numerous till mid-summer. A good method to destroy 

 the worm is by crushing them suddenly with both 

 hands, within the leaf. The last brood hybernates in 

 the chrysalis state within the fallen leaves, and much 

 may be done towards checking the ravages of this worm, 

 which during some years are very severe, by raking up 

 and burning the dead leaves in the fall. 



THE GRAPE-VINE FIDIA. 



(Fidia viticida.) 



This beetle, often miscalled the 

 Rose-bug, is one of the worst foes of 

 the grape-vine in Missouri. It makes 

 its appearance during the month of 

 June, and by the end of July has. 

 generally disappeared. When nu- 

 merous, it so riddles the leaves as to 

 Fig. 81. reduce them to mere shreds. Luck- 



ily this beetle drops to the ground upon the slightest 

 disturbance, and thus enables us to keep it in check, 

 by taking a large basin with a little water in it, and 

 holding it under the insect. At the least jar the bugs 

 will fall into the dish. When a quantity have thus 

 been caught, throw them into the fire or pour hot water 

 upon them. M. Poeschel of Hermann, raised a large 

 brood of chickens, and had them so well trained that all 

 he had to do was to start them in the vineyard, 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 

 find a single Fidia. 



THE GIGANTIC ROOT-BORER. 



(Prionus laticollis.) 



Fig. 82. 



This large borer is often met with in and about the 

 roots of several kinds of plants, such as the Apple, the 

 Pear, and the Grape, to which it is very destructive. 

 It follows the roots, entirely severing them in many 



