UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



% BULLETIN No. 911 { 



Contribution from the Bureau of Entomology 

 L. O. HOWARD, Chief 



SS^-^mTU 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



December 13, 1920 



LIFE HISTORY OF THE GRAPE-BERRY MOTH IN 

 NORTHERN OHIO. 1 



By H. G. Ingerson, Scientific Assistant, Deciduous Fruit Insect Investigations. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Method of conducting rearing work 1 



Weather conditions in 1916, 1917 and 1918 2 



Seasonal-history studies, 1916 2 



Seasonal-history studies, 1917 7 



Seasonal-history studies, 1918 24 



Miscellaneous records 32 



Summary 37 



METHOD OF CONDUCTING REARING WORK. 



The studies reported in this paper on the grape-berry moth 

 (PolycJirosis viteana Clem.) began in 1916 with the collection of 

 grapes which were infested with early hatching first-brood larvse. 

 These infested grapes were taken to the open-air insectary and 

 placed in cylindrical wire baskets which held from 1 to 1^ quarts 

 each. These baskets were placed in glass battery jars which had 

 been supplied with about one-half inch of sand in the bottom. This 

 sand absorbed the juice from the infested grapes and maintained a 

 fairly constant humidity in the jars. The jars were closed with 

 cloth covers. 



Fresh grape leaves were placed in the battery jars in the space 

 between the wire baskets and the glass surface, and the larva? pupated 



i The data reported in this paper were accumulated during the seasons of 1916, 1917, and 1918. The ac- 

 tual rearing records were secured at Sandusky, Ohio, and the field observations were made in the grape 

 sections about Sandusky, including the Lake Erie islands, in Dover and Avon sections west of Cleveland, 

 and in the Euclid section east of Cleveland. 



Control experiments based on these life-history studies were conducted each season and the satisfactory 

 control effected proved the value of such life-history data. The results of the control experiments are 

 published separately as IT. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin 837. 



These investigations were conducted in cooperation with the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station. 



During the season of 1916 the writer was assisted by E. R. Selkregg, then field assistant in the TJ. S. Bu- 

 reau of Entomology. Mr. Selkregg was in direct charge of the rearing work for 1916. In the seasons of 

 1917 and 1918 the writer was assisted by Chester I. Bliss, field assistant in the TJ. S. Bureau o f Entomology. 

 7678°— 20 1 



