34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



are in the pupal or " turtle " stage. This operation may well be 

 deferred till some of the more advanced insects begin to brown a 

 little or even till a very few have changed to beetles, and its 

 efficiency can be further enhanced by repeating the cultivation, 

 with a spring-toothed harrow, about a week or 10 days after in 

 order to catch some of the later transforming individuals. There 

 may be a difference of a week or more in the development of the 

 insects in a vineyard, and this means that each grower should 

 know the pupa and watch for its appearance. This variation is 

 due largely to the character of the soils, as some warm up much 

 more rapidly than others, and the final changes to beetles occur 

 correspondingly quick. 



Collecting beetles. This method of controlling the grapevine 

 root worm did not promise much when it was first attempted. 

 Professor Webster had either not considered it worth trying 

 or had found it of comparatively little value, and Dr Marlatt did 

 not even mention it in his recommendations. Professor Slinger- 

 land made the guarded statement in 1902 that it may be prac- 

 ticable in some cases to jar the beetles into a collecting apparatus, 

 but he apparently had little faith in the plan, except when the 

 insects could be jarred to the ground where they would be eaten 

 by chickens. 



Mr J. J. Bar den, working under the writer's directions in 1902, 

 found that, even with a plain cloth-covered frame several feet 

 square and with a small slit in one side, so that it could be slipped 

 under a vine, large numbers of the insects could be collected. 

 With this crude apparatus he was able to capture a quart of 

 beetles in about two hours. This indicated that much better 

 results could be secured Avith a more elaborate apparatus; and 

 with the aid of Mr G. L. Hough he constructed a modified form 

 of the Curculio catcher, which is represented on plate 9. The 

 .machine is 6 feet long and 3 feet wide at the top, with vertical 

 ends and the sides sloping to a trough about 3x3x72 inches. 

 A central slit about 3 inches wide was cut in the side opposite 

 the handles and the whole mounted on a two wheeled frame. 

 The long trough is subdivided by a few transverse partitions, 

 and these spaces are partly filled with kerosene and water. 

 The sides, ends and trough are constructed of galvanized iron 

 and strengthened with iron straps as shown in the figure. The 



