Grape rootworm
Insect
Grape rootworm
Fidia viticida (Walsh)
Chrysomelidae: Coleoptera
Photos
This beetle is 6 mm long and light brown with yellow hairs. It feeds on grape foliage as an adult, making a chainlike damage pattern. Immature stages feed on grape roots. Infestations that go untreated for many years can lead to vineyard decline. Grape rootworm adults begin appearing in vineyards in mid- to late May and then lay eggs on the vine trunks.
Larvae later crawl into the soil and attach themselves to grape roots, remaining there for 1 to 2 years while completing their development. Larvae eat small roots and bore into larger ones.
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