86 



Fig, 41. 



This moth is very rare throughout Ontario, and we have been unable to learn of its 

 occurrence at all in Quebec, so it is scarcely likely it will ever be the cause of much 

 annoyance, 



ISTo. 4. The Grape-vine Leaf roller [Desmict maculalis, W^estwood.) This species, 

 although most abundant in the Southern States, is still very generally distributed, and 

 will no doubt, in its caterpillar form, be familiar to all vine growers. The accompanying 



wood-cut (Fig. 41) repre- 

 sents the moth with its wings 

 closed and expanded, the 

 larva of its natural size, 

 also a magnified view of a 

 portion of the anterior part 

 of its body, and the chry- 

 salis. 



The mothis a very pretty 

 little creature. Its wings 

 when expanded measure 

 Colors— 1 and 2 grass green, 3 brown, 4 and 5 black and white. about nine- tenths of aninch,. 



its body being nearly four-tenths of an inch long. Its wings are dark brown, nearly 

 black, with a. bronzed or coppery lustre, and lightly fringed with white. The fore wings 

 have two white, nearly oval, spots, the hind wings but one white spot, which is usually 

 larger than either of those on the anterior pair ; sometimes in the female the spot is 

 slightly divided. The under side of the wings is very similar to the upper, but of a 

 duller shade. The body of the male is also nearly black, with one white band, while the 

 female has two. 



There are two broods of this insect during the summer. The first moths — which have 

 parsed the winter in the chrysalis state — appear early in June ; the second brood in August, 

 They deposit their eggs singly on the leaves of the vine. Soon after the young worm is 

 hatched, it begins to manifest its leaf-folding propensities, by turning down a small portion 

 of the leaf on which it is placed, and living within the tube thus formed. As it increases 

 in size, a larger case is made, often the whole leaf is rolled over and over into a large cylin- 

 der, wider at one end than the other and firmly fastened with stout silken threads. In this 

 the little active wriggling creature lives, its case affording it a tolerably safe hiding place, 

 from whence it issues forth to feed on the surrounding foliage. It is so very rapid in its 

 movements both backwards and forwards, that it frequently escapes detection, by suddenly 

 slipping out of its case when disturbed and falling to the ground. The first brood of cat- 

 erpillars are full. grown about the last of July — the second in the beginning of September. 



The length of the full grown larva is about three-quarters of an inch — its body cylin- 

 drical, that is of the same thickness throughout. The head is medium sized, dull reddish 

 yellow, with a faint streak of black on each side near the base, and a few very fine yellow 

 hairs. The mandibles are tipped with brown. 



The body is yellowish green at the sides, a little darker above, glossy and semi-transpar- 

 ent with a few fine yellow hairs on each segment. The second segment — that is the first be- 

 hind the head — has a crescent shaped patch above, of the same color and appearance as the 

 head, covering nearly the whole of its upper surface and edged behind with brownish black. 

 The third segment has three spots on each side, the two lower of which are sometimes uni- 

 ted, forming a single reniform patch of black — the upper one which is smaller, is of a pale 

 brown color. The twelfth segment has also a black spot on each side, and is a little paler 

 in color above than the other segments are. The under surface is pale greenish yellow, 

 with the same glossiness and semi-transparent appearance as the upper surface — the feet 

 and prolegs partake of the general color. 



Before entering the chrysalis state, Mr. Riley says they change color, assuming a 

 pink shade. The ehrysalis is about half an inch long and of a dark brown color. It is 

 usually formed within the fold of the leaf, so the last brood which passes the winter in this 

 inactive state, may in a great measure be destroyed by carefully going over the vineyard 

 late in the season, before the leaves fall, and picking off the folded leaves and burning them, 

 or the larva may be destroyed earlier in the season, by suddenly crushing the folded leaves 



