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France, but from a letter received from M. Signoret, despatched just before the investment 

 of Paris, in which place he is now shut in, he expresses himself as convinced of the 

 identity of the two species. 



In the meantime Mr. Riley has discovered that our gall insect also attacks the roots 

 of vines here in the same manner as does the insect in Europe, and Dr. Shimer, another 

 careful and painstaking entomologist in the U. S., has shown that the winged females have 

 the same characteristic markings as the European species, hence there is little doubt as to 

 the correctness of the conclusions arrived at regarding their common origin. 



Since it has been decided by eminent French entomologists, who have made a special 

 study of plant-lice, that the insect in Europe belongs to the genus Phylloxera, our species 

 will hereafter be known as Phylloxera viiifolia. 



In continuation of that part of the history of the species already given, Mr. Riley 

 says : — " In August the insects generally become so prodigiously multiplied that they often 

 settle on the tendrils, leaf- stalks and tender branches, where they form excrescences and 

 gall -like growths, differing only from those on the leaves in such manner as one would 

 naturally expect from the difference in the tissues. After the vine has finished its growth 

 the young lice, finding no more succulent and suitable leaves, begin to wander and to seek 

 the roots, so that by the end of September the galls are deserted, and those remaining on 

 the vines generally become mildewy, and finally turn brown and dry up. Upon the roots 

 the lice attach themselves singly or in little groups, and cause by their punctures little 

 swellings or knots which eventually become rotten. Where vines have been badly affected 

 with the gall, it is difficult to find a perfectly healthy fibrous root. Strange enough these 

 lice not only change their residence as winter approaches, from the leaf above ground to 

 the root below ground, but Proteus-like they change their appearance also, and after shed- 

 ding their skins present themselves covered with small tubercles." 



These tubercled insects pass the winter on the root, and probably produce in spring 

 the winged males and females which pair and deposit eggs on the grape leaves, which give 

 birth to the wingless females who are the founders of the gall producing colonies. 



Erom these facts it is evident that the insect can be carried from one place to another 

 on the roots, and doubtless it was by some such mode that it was introduced into France 

 from this country. Its natural home here is on the wild Frost Grape, from which it must 

 have spread to the cultivated varieties, and since this wild grape is found over a wide range 

 of our country, the insect in all probability is equally widespread. The knowledge of the 

 fact of its wintering on the roots would point to the necessity in extreme cases of rooting 

 up and burning such vines as may become very much diseased, so as to check the increase 

 of this pest; close attention should also be paid to plucking and destroying the gall in- 

 fested leaves as soon as they appear in spring. It may also be well in certain localities to 

 avoid planting any varieties of the Frost Grape, but we scarcely think that such a pre- 

 cautionary measure will need to be adopted in Canada. It would appear from various 

 information gathered, that the insect is much more likely to be troublesome in warmer 

 latitudes than in cold ones, the length of the season being favorable to their greater 

 increase, and the milder winters less destructive to them. Still it will be well for all our 

 grape-growers to keep a sharp look out for this enemy and meet it with a determined 

 effort at its destruction wherever it may appear. 



Although hitherto almost entirely confined in its attacks to the Frost Grape and its 

 progeny, a few have of late been found occasionally on the Delaware, Iona and Concord, 

 and since it has so readily taken to the European varieties of the Vitis vinifera, it may also 

 attack hybrids of this species grown in our own country. 



This gall louse has proved very injurious to the Clinton vine in many parts of Mis- 

 souri, occasionally defoliating and almost destroying large portions of some vineyards. 



The liberal prize offered by the French government has not, we believe, been awarded, 

 for no specific seems yet to have been discovered. The location of the insects on the 

 roots would naturally render it extremely difficult to apply any remedy — Carbolic acid 

 and water, and sulphuret of lime and water, have both been recommended, but neither 

 of them appears to have been tried on a sufficiently extensive scale to prove their efficacy 

 in this case. 



No. 13 t — The Tree Cricket (CEcanlhus niveas, Harris). This insect, although de- - 



