24 BULLETIN 901. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



immature stages are very susceptible to remedial measures, and their 

 destruction incidental to good tillage and to spraying for the control 

 of other pests has been referred to under the discussion of economic 

 importance (p. 20-21) . The regular spray applications for the control 

 of the grapevine rootworm and the grape-berry moth are so timed 

 that they are entirely effective against the larvae of Altica woodsi but 

 can not be relied upon to destroy all of the larvae of A. chalyhea. 

 During both 1916 and 1917 the earliest larvae of the latter species 

 began entering the soil about 10 days before the first regular spray 

 application was made. In case of a heavy infestation of larvae of 

 this species on the grape foliage an application made just before the 

 grapes bloom is advisable to prevent a heavy infestation of beetles 

 the following spring. This extra application, however, probably will 

 be rarely necessary. 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 



The grapevine flea-beetle (Altica chalyhea 111.) is a grape pest which 

 eats out the swelling buds in early spring, thus destroying the em- 

 bryonic shoots and fruit clusters. Later both the beetles and the 

 larvae feed upon leaves of the grape. It is single brooded. Winter 

 is passed in the adult stage. Eggs are deposited in groups under bud 

 scales or strips of bark; the larvae migrate to the leaves to feed and 

 enter the soil to pupate; and the pupae transform to the adult stage 

 by early summer. This is in agreement with the habits and seasonal 

 history as usually described in the literature of the species. 



Statements that the eggs are deposited on leaves, that the insect 

 is two-brooded, and that it prefers thin-leaved varieties of grapes 

 as hosts rather than the Concord variety, are due to a confusion with 

 a closely allied species, the lesser grapevine flea-beetle (Altica 

 woodsi n. sp.), hitherto usually determined as "A. chalyhea, small 

 form." This insect is also single brooded but emerges from hiber- 

 nation enough later in the season to appear as a second brood of the 

 typical species. Eggs are deposited singly, or sometimes in a cluster 

 of two or three on the underside of the leaf upon which they feed. 

 As in the case of the first-named species, transformations are passed 

 in the ground and winter is passed in the adult stage. 



In addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, the lesser grape- 

 vine flea-beetle may be distinguished from its larger ally by its dis- 

 tinctly smaller size in all stages, by the green color of the adult 

 instead of blue, the pale yellow of the egg instead of a deep yellow or 

 orange, the yellow body color of the larva instead of a brownish 

 yellow, and the absence of setae on the ventral prothoracic plate of 

 the larva. The feeding marks of both larva and adult are also a 

 ready means of identification. Both the adult and the larva of the 



