30 



BUSHBERG CATALOGUE. 



2 j 



GRAPE LEAF-FOLDER. 1, larva; 2. head and thoracic joints 

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



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 worms 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 gen- 

 erally disappeared. When numerous 

 it so riddles the leaves as to reduce 

 them to mere shreds. Luckily 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. Mr. 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 'he 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.) 



a smooth, oval chamber 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 toward the end of June, and is 

 very commonly found during the Sum- 

 mer and Fall months, rushing, 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 facts 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 death ol the 

 vine. Wherever you find vines suddenly dying from 

 any cause unknown, search for this borer, and upon 

 finding one, (in each case we have found but onea.t each 

 tree or vine) put an end to his existence. 



THE GRAPE-VINE FLEA-BEETLE. 



(Haltica chalybea.} 



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 

 instances, so that the vines soon die. When fully 

 grown it leaves the roots it was inhabiting, and forms 



[a, larva, natural size ; &, do. magnified ; c, cocoon ; 

 d, beetle enlarged.] 



Like all Flea-beetles, this insect has very 

 stout swollen hind thighs, by means of which 

 it is enabled 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 bee- 

 tles hibernate in a torpid state under any 

 shelter, such as loose bark, crevices of stakes^ 

 etc., and they are roused to activity quite 

 early in the spring, doing the greatest dam- 

 j 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 deposit their small 

 orange eggs in clusters on the underside of the leaf. 

 These eggs soon hatch into dark-colored larvae, which 

 may be found of all sizes during the latter part of May 



