34 BULLETIN NO. 4, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



HOP INSECTS. 



The hop crop this year was greatly damaged by insects, principally 

 the Hop Aphis, ably seconded by the " Grub," and materially assisted 

 by a number of other pests. Herkimer in early summer, Waterville 

 later on, and then Oooperstown furnished the centers of investigation. 

 At Athens I examined a yard that had formerly suffered much from insect 

 attack, and the yards in the vicinity of Deansville and Oriskany Falls 

 were visited, so that I might be able to detect local pests, should there 

 be any unusually abundant. To Mr. Frank Cutter, editor of the War 

 terville Times, I owe thanks for the courtesy, assistance, and informa- 

 tion afforded me ; to Mr. Lawrence, manager of the Hop Extract works 

 at Waterville, I am indebted for information and free permission to dig, 

 delve, and otherwise amuse myself in his hop yard, and to sacrifice such 

 numbers of vines as the necessities of the case might demand. At 

 Herkimer, Mr. George W. Pine assisted me in making a first acquaintance 

 with the " Grub." At Oooperstown, Mr. J. F. Clark gave me great aid 

 in my researches on the Aphis. To Mr. Ira C. Jenks, of Deansville, I 

 tender my thanks for aid on the same subject, and to the growers every- 

 where I owe gratitude for such aid and information as they were able 

 to give me. 



One of the insects most destructive to the hoi) vine, and which threat- 

 ened at one time to entirely destroy the yards in certain districts is — 



THE HOP GRUB. 



(Larva of Byrfraecia immanis Gn.) 



This insect measures from 1^ to 2 inches in expanse of wing, is stoutly 

 built, of a yellowish brown or rather pale rust color; the middle portion 

 of the fore wing is darkest, and incloses two large, somewhat kidney- 

 shaped, paler spots; the outer portion of the wing is paler; the hind 

 wings are rather more yellowish, uniformly colored, and not so thickly 

 covered with scales as are the fore wings. 



Of this moth a few specimens appear in the fall, but the majority ap- 

 pear in spring, from the beginning to the end of May or later, according 

 to the season. 



The egg is deposited by the female upon the tip of the hop vine when 

 it begins to climb, and is, as I am informed by Mr. Fees and Mr. Jenks, 

 about the size of a pin head, globular in form, and of a yellowish-green 

 color. The egg hatches in a few days and produces a minute, slender, 

 greenish larva, spotted with black, which immediately burrows into the 

 vine just below the tip, and spends a part of its life in the vine at this 

 point. 



The vine soon shows the effect of the insect's work ; instead of pointing 

 upward, embracing the pole readily and growing rapidly, the tip points 

 downward, will not climb, and almost entirely ceases growing. This 

 appearance is called by growers a "muffle head," and such "muffle 



