GRAPEVINE FLEA-BEETLES. 
7 
HABITS. 
The beetle emerges from hibernation in the spring at the time of 
the swelHng of the grape buds, which it attacks voraciously, boring 
into the sides of the buds and eating out the tender parts. (PI. I, B.) 
When the shoots begin to expand it eats large holes in the leaves 
(PI. Ill, A), and often attacks the tender stems. The beetle is most 
voracious when newly emerged from hibernation and at that time 
can do an immense amount of damage. 
Eggs are usually deposited on their sides, in groups, under bud 
scales or strips of bark, as described by Slingerland {19) and Hart- 
zell {23 and 24). Occasionally they are placed on leaves on either 
the upper or the lower side. 
The larvae feed on either the upper or lower surface of thin-leaved 
varieties of cultivated and wild grapes, eating out large irregular 
holes, and often stripping out all of the leaf tissue except the leaf 
veins. On Concord or similar types of leaves they feed on the upper 
surface, leaving as feeding marks long, chain-like, whitish patches 
(PI. Ill, B). 
During the feeding period the larva molts twice. Upon becoming 
fuUy fed it burrows into the ground and forms a pupal cell a fraction 
of an inch below the surface. A few days are passed in the pupal 
cell, the prepupal period, preparatory for pupation. At the close of the 
pupal stage, after eclosion, the adult does not emerge at once, but 
remains in the cell until it is hardened and fully colored. Following 
emergence the beetle feeds sparingly until it goes into winter quar- 
ters. None of the specimens under observation during either season 
showed any tendency to copulate or oviposit during the period be- 
tween transformation to the adult stage and hibernation.^ 
All stages of the beetles' activity are greatly influenced by changes 
in temperature. Both adults and larvae feed more voraciously on 
warm days than in cold weather and on the cold days of early spring 
the beetles even appear to return to winter quarters. Hatching of 
eggs and molting of larvae occur in the greatest numbers during the 
warmest part of the day. 
LIFE HISTORY. 
REARING METHODS. 
The rearuig methods used for the two species of flea-beetles were 
practically identical. Oviposition was secured from adults kept in 
battery jars or sleeve cages on grape shoots. Larvae were reared in 
1 In addition to the insects native to the Erie-Chautauciua grape belt, upon which the foregoing account 
of habits and seasonal history and the following of life history are based, the writer received beetles from 
French Creek, W. Va., collected by Mr. Fred E. Brooks, and from Arlington, Va., collected by Mr. E. R. 
Selkregg, during the spring of 1917. These beetles and their ofTspring were reared in theinsectary at North 
East, Pa., and their habits, seasonal history, and transformations agreed in detail with those of the native 
insects recorded herein. 
