38 BULLETIN NO. 4, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



gentleman in Sangerfield informs me that he several times tried the ex- 

 periment of placing a grub in the way of the larva, and each time it 

 was set upon and immediately devoured. I found none of these larvae 

 at Herkimer in June, and on July 22 the grubs had mostly changed to 

 pupa?, while the carabid larva had also disappeared. I could not find 

 a specimen, nor could my informant, though he said they were common 

 enough a few days previous. 



In the preceding account, the young grub is said to produce the 

 " muffle head," and this is correct ; but not all "muffle heads" are pro- 

 duced by the grubs. My attention was called by several growers to 

 yards where the vines were stunted, the tops imperfect ; they refused to 

 climb; the hills were called "slide downs," "foolish hills," or "blighted," 

 and, as a rule, the damage was attributed to the "fly," a little green 

 leaf-hopper hereafter described. Several yards showed this appear- 

 ance in nearly every hill, while in most yards there were some instances 

 of it. At the Hop Extract works there was a yard, every hill of which 

 was " blighted," and here I carefully examined the vines from root to 

 tip to ascertain whether the trouble was caused by insects. My con- 

 clusion is that it is not so caused, because while in some few hills I 

 found the grub or traces of his work, most of the hills were absolute^ 

 free from all insect attack sufficient to cause this appearance. The vines 

 are short and bushy, the heads are fuzzy, the vines become wiry, hard, 

 and bony toward the tip, the joints are but an inch or less apart, and the 

 leaves imperfect. The arms thrown out by the vine grow well at first, 

 but in a short time become as bad as the main vine. No crop can be 

 expected from such vines. I soon satisfied myself that nowhere above 

 ground was any insect at work on the plants, and found also that the 

 affected vines were wiry and unhealthy to the parent root, and that 

 the parent root was entirely free from insect attack, but of a more shriv- 

 eled, unhealthy appearance than in normal hills. I found, too, that 

 this "blight" was universal in low, moist ground; that hill yards were 

 almost entirely free from it, and where it occurred in a hill yard it 

 was in some depression where the water could accumulate; during the 

 spring, rains were frequent and heavy, and the ground was sodden and 

 unlit for working for some time, and early in the season there were 

 several frosts soon after soaking rains. 



The conclusion is that the frost nipped the vines in the moist grounds 

 while it had no effect on the hill yards where the drainage was rapid and 

 complete. At all events, whatever be the cause of this "blight" it is 

 not attributable to insects. A " muffle head " caused by the grub can 

 be at a glance distinguished from a " blighted" vine by the long joints 

 and otherwise healthy condition of the vine. The "blight" shortens 

 the joints and affects all the arms of the vine, while the " grub " affects 

 only the heads inhabited by it and does not otherwise cause any abnor- 

 mal appearances. 



Note. — I have given this insect the name Rydrcecia immanis Gn., 

 though on close comparison with the European H. micaeea Esp. I can 



