58 Insects. 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



Insects. 



varieties of the grape-vine, and will gather upon that 

 variety and leave others unmolested, where it has a 

 chance. Those who are troubled with this beetle will 

 no doubt take the hint." 



THE GRAPE-CURCULIO. 



(Cxliodes insequalis.) 



Fig. 86. a, berry, infested; 6, larva; c, beetle the hair-line 

 showing natural length. 



The larva of this curculio infests the grapes in June 

 and July, causing a little black hole in the skin, and a 

 discoloration of the berry immediately around it, as 

 seen in the above figure. From the middle to the last 

 of July this larva leaves the berry and buries itself a 

 few inches in the ground, and by the beginning of Sep- 

 tember the perfect insect issues from the ground and 

 doubtless passes the winter in the beetle state, ready 

 to puncture the grapes again the following May or 

 June. This curculio is small and inconspicuous, being 

 of a black color with a grayish tint. It is represented 

 above, the hair-line underneath showing the natural 

 size. This insect is very bad some years, at others 

 scarcely noticed, being doubtless killed by parasites. 

 It is thus that nature works : " Eat and be eaten, kill 

 and be killed," is one of her universal laws; and we 

 never can say with surety, because a particular insect 

 is numerous one year, therefore it will be so the next. 



All infested berries should from time to time, as 

 they are noticed, be collected and destroyed, and the 

 beetle may be jarred down on sheets as with the Plum 

 Curculio. 



There are several CUT-WORMS which eat the young, 

 tender shoots of the vine, and draw them into the 

 ground below ; they have destroyed, or kept back at 

 least, many a young vine. The little rascals can be 

 easily found and destroyed by digging for them under 

 the loose clods of ground beneath the young vine. 



There are many other insects injurious to the Grape- 

 vine large solitary worms insects which lay eggs in 

 the canes others which make curious galls, etc., but 

 the reader who desires an acquaintance with these, 

 must refer to Prof. Riley's reports. 



It will be more useful to the grape-grower to close 

 this chapter on insects with a brief account of some of 



THE BENEFICIAL SPECIES 



which he will meet with, and which he should cherish 

 as his friends. 



Insects which are beneficial to man by feeding upon 

 other insects that are injurious, may be divided into 

 those which simply prey upon such injurious insects, 

 without however being otherwise connected with them 

 the predaceous insects ; secondly, into those which in 

 their earlier stages live in or on their prey the true 

 parasites. This last class is represented only by two 

 Orders, viz., the Diptera, or Two-winged flies, and the 

 Hymenoptera (especially the families Ichneumonidse 



and Chalcididse). The egg is deposited by the mother 

 parasite on or into the body of its victim, which is 

 usually in the larva state, the parasitic larva feeding 

 upon the fatty parts of its victim, and causing its death 

 only after it has itself reached fall growth. 



The most important 

 parasites among the 

 Diptera are the Tachi- 

 na-flies, which in gen- 

 leral appearance are 

 not unlike our com- 

 mon House-fly. Those 

 among the Hymenop- 

 tera are by far more 

 Fig. 87, TACHINA-FLY. numerous in species 



and more varied as to general appearance and mode 

 of development. We select for illustration one of the 

 most common forms, viz., a MICEOGASTER of the family 

 Ichneumonidse, a small inconspicu- 

 ous insect which is known to prey 

 upon a large number of worms, and 

 among others, also on the Hog-cater- 

 pillar of the vine. By means of her 

 ovipositor the female Microgaster in- 

 serts a number of eggs in the body of 

 the caterpillar while this is still young. 



Fig.i 



MlCROGAS'TEIl. 



The Microgaster larvse develop within the caterpillar, 

 and when full grown they pierce the skin of the latter, 

 and work themselves so- 

 far out that they are held 

 on only by the last joint 

 of the body. They 

 Fig. 89. then commence spinning 



Shrunken larva of CHCEROCAMPA, small white c o c o o n s 



With MICKOGASTEK COCOOnS. st&nding Qn ^ ag rep . 



resented in Fig. 89, the caterpillar having by this time 

 died and greatly shrunk. A week or thereabout later 

 the Ichneumon flies begin to hatch from the cocoons. 



The Predaceous Insects include numerous species 

 of all Orders, and we can here only select a few of the 

 more important ones which have been observed in 

 connection with the insects injurious to the grape- 

 vine, 



LADYBIRDS. The Coleopterous family Coccinellidse, 

 or Ladybirds, comprises in the United States more 

 than a hundred species, the larger of which may be 

 readily distinguished by their round, convex form, 

 the upper side being usually red or pink, handsomely 

 variegated by black spots, 

 which greatly vary in number 

 and position ; also a few spe- 

 cies that are black with red 

 spots, while the numerous 

 smaller species are mostly of 

 a more uniform dark color. 

 With the exception of a few species which constitute 

 the genus Epilachna, and a few allied genera, all Lady- 

 birds are insectivorous, and, considering that many 

 species occur in a large number of specimens and that 

 the larvae are very voracious, an idea may be formed 

 of the great service performed by the Ladybirds in 

 lessening the number of injurious insects.* The Lady- 

 bird larvse are especially fond of preying on the plant- 

 lice, but they also feed extensively on the eggs and 



Fig. 90. LADYBIRD. 



