24 
BULLETIX V\U. r. S. DEPAETiME^?"T OF AGRICULTURE. 
immatiire stages are very susceptible to remedial measures, and their 
destruction incidental to good tillage and to spraying for the control 
of other pests has been referred to under the discussion of economic 
importance, (p. 20-21) . The regular spray apphcations for the control 
of the grapevine rootworm and the grape-beiTy moth are so timed 
that they are entirely effective against the larvge of Altica woodsi but 
can not be relied upon to destroy all of the larvge of A. cTialyhea. 
During both 1916 and 1917 the earliest larvae of the latter species 
began entering the soil about 10 days before the first regular spray 
appHcation was made. In case of a heavy infestation of larvse of 
this species on the grape foHage an application made just before the 
grapes bloom is advisable to prevent a heavy infestation of beetles 
the following spring. This extra application, however, probably will 
be rarely necessary. 
GENERAL SUMMARY. 
The grapevine flea-beetle (Altim cJialylea 111.) is a grape pest which 
eats out the swelling buds in early spring, thus destroying the em- 
bryonic shoots and fruit clusters. Later both the beetles and the 
larvge feed upon leaves of the grape. It is single brooded. TVinter 
is passed in the adult stage. Eggs are deposited in groups under bud 
scales or strips of bark: the larvse migrate to the leaves to feed and 
enter the soil to pupate; and the pupse transform to the adult stage 
by early summer. This is in agreement with the habits and seasonal 
history as usually described in the literature of the species. 
Statements that the eggs are deposited on leaves, that the insect 
is two-brooded, and that it prefers thin-leaved varieties of grapes 
as hosts rather than the Concord variety, are due to a confusion with 
a closely allied species, the lesser grapevine flea-beetle {Altica 
woodsi n. sp.), hitherto usually determined as 'A. chalylea, small 
form." This insect is also single brooded but emerges from hiber- 
nation enough later in the season to appear as a second brood of the 
typical species. Eggs are deposited singly, or sometimes in a cluster 
of two or three on the underside of the leaf upon which they feed. 
As in the case of the first-named species, transformations are passed 
in the ground and winter is passed in the adult stage. 
In addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, the lesser grape- 
vine flea-beetle may be distinguished from its larger ally by its dis- 
tinctly smaller size in all stages, by the green color of the adult 
instead of blue, the pale yellow of the egg instead of a deep yeUow or 
orange, the yeUow body color of the larva instead of a brownish 
yellow, and the absence of setae on the ventral prothoracic plate of 
the larva. The feeding marks of both larva and adult are also a 
ready means of identification. Both the adult and the larva of the 
