r8 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of it from Mr. Read, and likewise from Mr. 

 Huron Burt, ofWilliamsburg, Missouri, and wc 

 found it universal in the vineyards along the 

 Pacific and Iron Mountain railroads, in tlic last 

 named State. It was equally common around 

 Alton, in Illinois, and we were informed by 

 Dr. Hull, of that place, that it ruined fifty per 

 cent, of the grapes around Cleveland, Ohio. It 

 also occurs in Pennsylvania, judging from 

 articles which appeared in the November and 

 December numbers of the Practical Farmer, 

 where Mr. S. 8. Kathvon gives an account, with 

 description, of some worms which were sent to 

 liim by the editors, and which answer in every 

 respect to the Grape-berry moth. 



Its Natural History 

 may be given as follows : About the 1st of July, 

 the grapes that are attacked by the worm begin 

 lo show a discolored spot at the point where the 

 worm entered. (See Fig. 123 c.) Upon opening 

 sucli a grape, the inmate, which is at this time 

 very small and white, with a cinnamon-colored 

 head, will be found at the end of a winding 

 cliaunel. It continues to feed on the pulp of the 

 fruit, and upon reaching the seeds, generally cats 

 out their interior. As it matures it becomes 

 darker, being either of an olive-green or dark 

 brown color, with a honey-yellow head, and if 

 one grape is not sufficient, it fastens the already 

 ruined grape to an adjoining one, by means of 

 silken tlireads, and proceeds to burrow in it as 

 it did in the first. AVlien full grown it presents 

 the appearance of Figure 123 b, and is exceed- 

 ingly active. As soon as the grape is touched 

 the worm will wriggle out of it, and rapidly let 

 itself to the ground, by means of its evei'-ready 

 silken thread, unless care be taken to prevent 

 its so doing. The cocoon is often formed on the 

 leaves of the vino, in a manner essentially 

 cliaracteristic. After covering a given spot with 

 silk, the worm cuts out a clean oval flap, leaving 

 it hinged on one side, and, rolling this flap 

 over, fastens it to the leaf, and thus forms for 

 itself a cozy little house. One of these cocoons 

 is represented at Figure 12-1 b, and though the 



m. 



nt is sometimes less regular 

 llian shown in the figure, it 

 is undoubtedly the normal 

 lKil.it of the insect to make 

 Jusi such a cocoon as repre- 

 .-•ciiled. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, it cuts two crescent- 

 shaped slits, and, rolling up 

 ■ 1 wo pieces, fastens tliem up in the middle as 

 i\vn a I, Figure IlTj. And Irequenfly it rolls 

 rTa]iicr('(,filieed.!i(M)lllio|,..af, inlhemamier 





i 



[Fij;. li-.j^ commonly adopted by leaf-rolling 

 larvas, while we have had them spin 

 up in a silk handkerchief, where they 

 made no cut at all. 

 In two days after completing the 

 loi'onn, the worm changes to a chrysalis. 

 In this state (Fig. 124 a), it measures about 

 one-fifth of an inch, and is quite variable 

 in color, being generally of a honey-yellow, 

 with a green shade on the .abdomen. In 

 about ten days after this last change takes 

 place, the chrysalis works itself almost entirely 

 out of the cocoon, and the little moth rei)re- 

 sentcd at Figure 123 a, makes its escape. 



The first moths appear in Southern Illinois 

 and Central Missouri about the 1st of August, 

 and as the worms are found in the grapes during 

 the months of August and September, or even 

 later, and as Mr. Read has kept the cocoons 

 through the greater part of the winter, there is 

 every reason to believe that a second brood of 

 worms is generated from these moths, and that 

 this second brood of worms, as in the case of 

 the Codling moth of the apple, passes the winter 

 in the cocoon, and produces the moth the 

 following spring, in time to lay the eggs on the 

 grapes while tliej' are forming. 



Specimens of tliC moth were sent by us, last 

 summer, to the English Lepidopterist, Mr. H. 

 T. Stainton, for identification, but Mr. S. could 

 not very well refer it to any known genus. Mr. 

 A. 8. Packard, jr., of Salem, Mass., however, 

 has referred it to the genus Penthina, and has 

 given it the specific name of vitivorana, on 

 page 33G of his "Guide to the Study of 

 Insects ; " and from advanced sheets which 

 were furnished him by the author, the Junior 

 Editor of this Journal adopted this name in his 

 "First Annual Report" (p. 135), where the 

 insect was first described. 



In the accounts abovc^ referred to, Mr. Read 

 is quoted as authority for the statement tliatthe 

 first woims which appear, roll up the leaves 

 and feed upon them; but we learn from that 

 gentleman that this is a gross mistake, which 

 was made by some misconstruction which Mr. 

 Packard jnil upon his (Mr. Read's) communi- 



Tlie Remedy. 

 From information obtained at the late meeting 

 of tlie '• Mississippi Valley Grape (irowcrs" 

 Association," recently held at Alton, 111., wc 

 learn that tliis worm is found in greatest num- 

 bers on such grapes as the Herbemont, or those 

 varieties which have tender skins, and close, 

 compact bunches ; though it has also been known 



