21 



August, and the yard will not suffer any from grubs, but will remain clean and free 

 from weeds the remainder of the season. When yards are hilled earlier than stated 

 above, the grub sometimes works in them more than in late hilled ones. 



To return to the skunks. They seem to have acquired the digging-out process to 

 perfection — far better than the hop grower — as they are able to dig around the hills 

 without the least injury to the vines. In Juneau county, Wisconsin, this little fellow — 

 with an appetite for juicy grubs only equalled in degree by the pungency of his perfume 

 — is the only positive remedy, as he works about the hop-hills or roots, cleaning out the 

 worms in a few nights. One grower says : "1 have seen ten acres where not a dozen 

 hills would escape their little noses." 



It is worthy of note that in a majority of cases the growers report the borer as the 

 most injurious insect in the hop yard, not excepting the hop-aphis. 



THE PICKLED FRUIT ELY — Drosophila Ampehphila (Loew). 



By G. J. Bowles, Montreal. 



In August, 1879, I met with a small Dipterous fly, Drosophila ampehphila Loew, in 

 considerable numbers, and as the subject is of interest to entomologists, I give the 



6 a 



Fig. 12. — Drosophila ampelophila: Fly and Wing. Fig. 13. — Drosophila ampdophila. 



Magnified 10 diameters. a, Larva ; b, Pupa. Magnified 7 diameters. 



result of my observations. I have to thank Professor Hagen, of Cambridge, for the 

 determination of the species and other information, and also Professor Lintner, of 

 Albany, for a copy of his article in the Country Gentleman of 1st January, 1880, on this 

 insect, and from which I have largely drawn. 



With regard to the genus, Professor Lintner says : "Twenty-five North American 

 species of Drosophila are catalogued, which have all, with the exception of three sj^ecies 

 common to Europe and America, been described by Dr. Loew, the distinguished Prus- 

 sian Dipterist, and Mr. Walker, of the British Museum. They have not been studied 

 by our American entomologists, and consequently nothing is known of their habits. I 

 find no reference to a single determined species by any of our writers." In the American 

 Saturalist, vol. 2, page 641, an uuknown species of Drosophila is noticed as infesting 

 apples, preferring the earlier varieties. The larva? penetrate the interior of the apple 

 in every direction, and if there are several working together, render it quite unfit for 

 use. Dr. Packard, in his Guide, page 415, figures an unknown species as the "Apple 

 Fly," which is believed to be the above species. Mr. Walsh, in vol. 2 of the Practical 

 Entomologist, also gives a brief notice of a larva supposed to be that of a species of 

 Drosophila, and which also was injurious to an apple crop in Vermont to the extent of 

 about half its value, by boring the fruit in every direction. 



Professor Lintner further says : " The different species of Drosophila vary consider- 

 ably in their habits, as we learn from European writers ; and, indeed, the same species 

 seems often to occur under apparently quite different conditions. The larvae of the 

 European D. cellar is occur in fermented liquids in cellars, as wine, cider, vinegar and 

 beer, and also in decayed potatoes. D. aceti Kol. infests decayed fruits. Its larva? 

 occupy about eight weeks in attaining their growth, and their pupal state lasts for 



