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The eggs are reddish, oblong and shining ; uie yoUiig maect dues 

 not pass through the larva state, and is of a light brown colour ; the 

 greater number are devoured by another insect called ichneumon 

 coccorum. Those which escape this enemy mostly attack the trel- 

 lised or arbour Vine ; the sap of which they so exhaust as to cause 

 the death of the plant , if their number is great. They adhere so firm- 

 ly to their hold, that to clear them, a knife must be passed between 

 them and the bark, a very delicate operation, which must be per- 

 formed with great care. 



10. The Wasp. 



This insect attacks the very finest sorts of grapes; thus the jVIusk- 

 Chasselas, from whicTi the Grenache wine is made is, its favorite. 

 It pierces the epidermis, insinuates its trunk and sucks away the saccha- 

 rine mucilage to such a degree that the skin is often left a mere 

 empty shell. 



But it should be told, that if the wasp does select the ripest grapes 

 the berries it has pricked always contain less fermentable matters and 

 thereby influence the quality of the wine. 



11. The Pyralis or Silver-Moth. 



The male caterpillar of this kind commits great ravages m the 

 vineyards of the black Morillon. It is nearly two inches in length, 

 with sixteen feet, the head black, and smaller than the body, which 

 is ferruginous and composed of six rings with here and there a few 

 hairy moles. Its mouth is armed with nippers that cut the leaves, 

 stems, footstalks and epidermis of the berry. The injured parts gradu- 

 ally dry, and the caterpillar then spreads over them some very slen- 

 der, white silky threads. In this manner it makes a lodgement in 

 the flower or on the fruit just formed, and blights the crop. It comes 

 out from its cell at sunset, or sooner if the day is dusky, especially 

 when it is rainy, but it doea not journey far. In one month the larva 

 assumes the chrysalis state and its white cones are mingled confu- 

 sedly with the remnants of the withered flowers and husks of the 

 berries. In a fortnight the phalena makes its appearance grey 

 wings, striped with black ; the body yellow and velvetty 3 and the 

 antennae sUghtly pectinate. 



This night-bntterfly places its eggs in the woody fibres of the stalks 

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