ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 229 



Other classes of Insect Enemies are the Cecidomiters or 

 Midges, of which the Uttle Wheat Midge may be seen at most 

 seasons flying in swarms on the edge of wheat fields. These later 

 on deposit their eggs within the wheat ears. The eggs soon hatch 

 out little white maggots, which then bury themselves into the 

 stigmata of the flowers of the wheat plant, thus hindering the 

 development of the grain, and frequently reducing the crop by a 

 fifth or more. In some years the amount of destruction 

 occasioned by it is very great. 



Another most mischievous insect and very troublesome to get 

 rid of is the well-known Daddy-long-legs {Tipula oleracea.) The 

 female fly is stated by Curtis to contain some 300 eggs, forming a 

 mass which fills nearly the whole of the abdomen. These she 

 deposits in the autumn on the grass, they hatch out in the early 

 spring, and burying themselves into the ground soon grow into 

 dirty-looking grubs, an inch long, having very tough skins. They 

 are destitute of legs, but still have the power of burrowing rapidly 

 in the ground. They make their burrows a little below the 

 surface of the ground and among the roots of the grass on which 

 they feed. So actively do they work and feed that they quickly 

 kill off a patch of grass, and their presence underground is then 

 made known by an ugly brown dead patch on lawn or field. The 

 best remedies we can avail ourselves of against these pests are the 

 birds, especially rooks and starhngs, and also the much slandered 

 moles, which, as devourers of grubs of all sorts, wire worms, etc. 

 are simply invaluable, and should be cherished instead of being 

 killed and trapped as noxious vermin. 



The injury we suffer from the Caterpillars of Moths and 



Butterflies is probably much better known than that caused by 



other classes of insects ; still, the ignorance of gardeners and 



cultivators regarding these creatures, which are comparatively so 



easy of observation, is astounding Among the lesser known, but 



not the less dangerous on that account, are the caterpillars feeding 



in the interior of the stems of various plants and shrubs ; one of 



these, the clear wing moth larva, will serve as an example. The 



moth is small, having more the appearance of a fly than a moth, 



its wings being almost destitute of scales ; it lays its eggs on the 



bark of currant-bushes. The larva on emerging from the egg 



New Series. Vol. I. 



1888. R 



