GRAPEVINE LOOPER. 3 
descriptive of the larva, "the grapevine looper, "was first applied by 
Fletcher (15) in 1887, and "the grapevine geometer" was the name 
used by Bethune (24) in 1907. Comstock (19) and Holland (23) used 
the name "diverseline moth." It would seem to the writer that the 
most serviceable name for an economic insect would be one descrip- 
tive of the destructive stage. For this reason he has followed Fletcher 
in using the name "grapevine looper." This is also the oldest name 
in use except that proposed by Saunders, which has become obsolete 
because of the change in the generic name. 
ECONOMIC HISTORY. 
The grapevine looper was first recorded as a pest of economic 
importance by Saunders (6) in 1870, and in following years was 
referred to by him and his colleagues as destructive in Ontario (7, 
12, 15, 24). Damage done by this insect not only to hardy grapes 
but particularly to grapes under glass is recorded by Hoy (10). It 
is referred to as an economic insect in Illinois (9, 13), and is men- 
tioned by Hartzell (25) in his report on grape insects in New York. 
DESCRIPTION OF STAGES. 
THE EGG. 
The egg (PL I, A, B) is elongate ovate, with one end rounded and considerably 
wider than the other. The small end. which forms the micropyle, is flattened and 
has a scalloped rim encircling it. The shell surface is reticulate with irregular hex- 
agonal areas, which are particularly conspicuous on the "rim" of the micropyle. 
The color is pale greenish yellow when first deposited, becoming lavender in about 
two days. Length 0.75 mm., greatest diameter 0.42 mm., diameter of micropyle 
0.30 mm. 
In a week or 10 days after the eggs are deposited they become 
somewhat depressed on the upper side. The shell is very durable 
and, even after the hatching of the egg, remains without breaking 
or shrinking for several weeks. 
THE LARVA. 
The larva (PL II) is very elongate and slender, the total length being about eighteen 
times greater than the greatest breadth. In general it is cylindrical, as tapering 
toward either end is slight. The head is flattened in front and strikingly bilobed 
dorsally, each lobe being bluntly pointed. The thorax and abdominal segments 
7 to 10 are very short, while abdominal segments 1 to 6 are very long, making up 
three-fourths of the entire body length. The dorsal plate of the tenth segment is 
paraboloid, and two elongate processes from the ventral part of the segment protrude 
under it. Only the last two pairs of prolegs are present; the first of these, although 
belonging to the seventh segment, appears to arise between this segment and the 
sixth. This pair of prolegs is large and fleshy, while the pair arising from the tenth 
segment is wide, flat, and straplike. 
The color is usually a pale green with pink or reddish markings. The extent of 
these markings varies and, while most frequently they are confined to the legs and 
a median ventral stripe, occasional larva? are nearly all of some shade of red. Super- 
ficially the larva appears to be naked, but there are fine seta? on every segment. 
Mature larvae have a total length averaging 37 mm. and a head width averaging 
2.05 mm. 
