108 
SQUASH-VINE BORER. 
indispensable. At the vineyards of Ohio, near 
Cincinnati, where some hundreds of acres are 
devoted to the grape culture, $1 per gallon is 
the common price. But my prices range from 
$1 to $6, according to quality. 
Sidney Weller. 
Brinkleyville , N. C. 
SQUASH-VINE BORER. 
During the month of August, pumpkin and 
squash vines are frequently found to wither 
suddenly, and die to the root. Sometimes the 
whole vine perishes, at other times, only one or 
more of the branches. The cause of this pre¬ 
mature death was made known in the New-Eng- 
land Farmer, for August 22d, 1828. It was 
shown to be an insect; and the name of Alge¬ 
ria cucurbitcc was then given to it, with an ac¬ 
count of its habits and transformations. These 
I now propose to describe anew, and to suggest 
a remedy for the disease which promises to be 
at least, partially, if not wholly successful. 
The insect, in its larva state, is a whitish, 
grub-like caterpillar, which bores into the stem 
of the vine near the ground, and destroys the 
interior. The hole by which it enters is com¬ 
monly near the root, and may readily be dis¬ 
covered by the castings of the grub around and 
beneath it. The insect is really a naked cater¬ 
pillar, with a small brown head, a plump body 
tapering towards each end, six small feet near 
the head, and ten very short holders, or stump 
feet, in pairs, under the rest of the body. It 
grows to the length of an inch, or rather more, 
boring in the stem up and down, and sometimes 
into the root itself. Between the middle of Au¬ 
gust and the 1st of September, it leaves the 
vine, and burrows just below the surface of the 
ground, near the root, and there incloses itself 
in an oblong-oval cocoon, made of fragments 
of the plant and grains of earth, cemented and 
lined with a gummy kind of silk. Soon after¬ 
wards, having thrown olf its skin, which is 
crowded into one end of the cocoon, it takes 
the chrysalis form, and remains in its cocoon, 
without further change, through the winter. By 
digging in the ground carefully, where vines 
have grown, and perished, the cocoons may 
often be found ; and, in this way, numbers of 
the insects may be taken and destroyed in the 
chrysalis state. 
The chrysalis resembles that of the peach- 
tree borer. It is nearly three quarters of an 
inch long, of a shining brown color, with trans¬ 
verse rows of minute teeth, pointing towards 
the tail, across the back. These little teeth en¬ 
able the chrysalis to take a firm hold of the 
cocoon during its exertions in breaking open 
the end of it. Towards the end of June or early 
in July, it thus perforates the cocoon, and by 
the help of the above-named little teeth, forces 
its body nearly out, when the chrysalis skin 
bursts open, a winged insect extricates itself 
therefrom, and crawls to the surface of the 
ground. 
The body of the insect, in its winged state, 
is little more than half an inch long, sometimes 
considerably less. The head and thorax are 
dark olive green, and the antennse, black. The 
hind body is tawny orange, with a row of four 
black spots upon it, and an olive-colored or 
blackish band at the base. The fore wings are 
olive green; the hind wings transparent, veined, 
and fringed with black. The hind legs are 
thickly clothed with orange-colored hairs on 
the outer side, with black hairs within. The 
wings expand about one inch and an eighth. 
This little insect, which is very conspicuous 
for its wasp-like form, its orange-colored and 
black-spotted hind body, and its enormous- or¬ 
ange and black-haired leggins, may be seen, 
during the month of July and. fore part of Au¬ 
gust, flying at midday about squash vines, and 
now and then alighting close to the root, to de¬ 
posit her eggs, and again taking wing and 
sporting in the sunshine. They can be easily 
taken on the wing, with a bag net, and thus 
many may be destroyed. In the course of a 
few days, having provided for her store of eggs, 
the female perishes, or falls a prey to her ene¬ 
mies. As soon as the eggs are hatched, the 
little grubs immediately bore into the stem of 
the vines, and begin their work of destruction. 
It may have been observed that pumpkin and 
squash vines sometimes strike root at the joints, 
and thus establish a new connection with the 
soil, both to stay and to nourish them. This 
they do the more readily, if not too much shak¬ 
en by the wind. Advantage may be taken of 
this fact to secure the vines from being killed 
by the borers. Let the vines be fastened firmly 
to the ground by forked sticks thrust into the 
earth over the principal joints, and let a little 
earth be drawn over each joint thus secured. 
They will soon take root at these places, espe¬ 
cially if watered now and then where they are 
fastened. When the joints have become firmly 
rooted, the vines will become independent of 
the original roots, and will continue to thrive 
even when their connection therewith has been 
interrupted by the borer. In this way, I have 
saved a large vine, although the borers nearly 
cut off the stems from the main roots. It will 
