AN 
ENCYCLOPZEDIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 115 
Turnip Moths—continued. t 
or brownish, sometimes with a yellowish tinge; they are 
usually darker towards the front margin, and bear obscure, 
darker marks and cross-lines; the hind wings are pearly- 
grey.. The larvæ are of the form shown in Fig. 135; 
they are smoky-brown, tinged with pink or purple, with 
darker lines and small spots, and a paler line down the 
middle of the back; the head is small, and much nar- 
rower than the body. Owing to their habit of living 
concealed below the surface of the soil, the larvæ are 
seldom seen. While young, they feed, in the darkness, 
above ground; and they are especially disposed to gnaw 
through the base of the stem in young plants, or to 
, remove the bark, if the stems are too large to be gnawed 
through. They are indiscriminate feeders, devouring 
almost all kinds of herbaceous plants. In autumn, they 
often resort to Turnips, boring into the tuberous roots 
from below, and eating out large cavities, in which they 
live during the winter, or till food fails. A few become 
pup, in cocoons in the soil, in October; but by far 
the larger number pupate in spring; and the moths 
emerge in June. i CH 
The Heart-and-Dart Moth (Agrotis egclamationis) 
is very similar to, and almost as destructive as, the 
Turnip Moth. The larve of the two species are so much 
alike that it requires a skilled entomologist to distinguish 
the one from the other; but this is of little moment 
to gardeners and farmers, as they are as much alike in 
habits and in destructive powers as they are in appear- 
ance. 
The larve of a good many more species of Noctue 
occasionally feed on the roots, leaves, or stems of 
Turnips, but they are so seldom the cause of perceptible 
injury to these plants that it is unnecessary to discuss 
them here. 
Remedies. Such larvæ as feed on the leaves of Turnips 
are best combated by the means detailed under Turnip 
Sawfly. Those larve that frequent the roots are not 
easily reached when they have bored into the Turnips. 
The time when they can be destroyed, or kept in check, 
with most hope of success, is in autumn, while they are 
still living concealed during the day, but come out to 
feed at night. Hand-picking, by the light of a lantern, 
is too slow, except to protect choice plants. Soot and 
gas-lime have been found useful, applied round the top 
of the root of each plant; and the same is trne of gas- 
water poured on the soil Ploughing or digging the 
ground, during winter, is useful by turning up the larve 
and exposing them to rooks and to other insectivorous 
birds, which are, in truth, the agriculturist's best allies 
against foes of this sort. 
TURNIP RADISH. Se Radish. 
TURNIP-ROOTED CELERY. Se Celeriac. 
TURNIP, ST. ANTHONY’S. A common name 
for Ranunculus bulbosus (which see). 
TURNIP SAWFLY (Athalia spinarum). One of 
the most dangerous enemies to Turnips in many years, 
since the larve (known as “Niggers,” or “ Black 
Palmers,’ because of their dark colour) frequently 
appear in myriads in the fields, and devour the leaves 
of the young plants. Often a second sowing has been 
rendered necessary; and even a third or a fourth has 
been required at times. The perfect insects are Saw- 
flies (see Tenthredinide), about jin. or jin. long, and 
rather heavy in form. Their ground-colour is clay- 
yellow, covered with dense, whitish, short hairs. The 
antennæ, head (except white mouth), spots on thorax, 
and tips of shanks and of joints of the feet, are black. 
The wings are transparent, with nerves (except at base) 
dark. The female lays about 250 eggs, often from ten 
to twenty on a single leaf, along the margins. The 
eggs hatch in from six to twelve days. The larve at 
Turnip Sawfly—continued. 
first are white, with two black dots on the head; but 
when nearly full-fed they are black above, paler below, 
with slate-coloured and black spots on the sides. There 
are usually several folds of skin, but no hairs, on the 
body. Often many occur on each leaf, and the leaves 
are gnawed away to the ribs by them. In about 
three weeks they reach their full size, and then burrow 
underground, and form oval cocoons. In these the 
summer broods lie about three weeks, when they emerge 
as Sawflies. There are usually three broods of Sawflies 
each year—in May, July and August, and September. 
They are partial to flowers, but also sit underneath 
the leaves of Turnips in dull weather, and may be 
caught by sweeping the plants with a net. They have ` 
been observed to proceed from district to district, begin- 
ning at one side of a field, and crossing it to the other, 
in regular succession. When the larve are very 
numerous, the Turnips are almost wholly eaten down, 
and suffer so much that the crop is rendered nearly 
worthless. 
Besides the well-known A. spinarum, another Sawfly 
does almost as much harm to Turnips in the larval 
stage. This is A. ancilla (also called A. glabricollis). 
The insects are much like A. spinarwm; but their 
ground-colour is reddish or clay-yellow, and they are 
not hairy. e larve of the two species are very much 
alike, and it is probable that those of A. ancilla are 
often wrongly ascribed to A. spinarum. The remedies 
recommended below are beneficial against both species. 
Remedies. Disturbing the larve when about to pu- 
pate, prevents this latter change, and the insect dies. 
It is also well to disturb them when changing their skins, 
as this is seriously hurtful to them, and destroys 
many. With this object, the plants may be brushed 
over with a rope, or with such branches as those 
of Firs, Ze, and the larvæ thrown to the ground may 
be crushed; or quicklime or gas-lime may be sprinkled 
on the soil around the plants. Anything that will pro- 
mote the rapid growth of the Turnip-plants is valuable, 
as diminishing the risk of injury; hence, watering or 
irrigating the plants with liquid manure, or even with 
pure water alone, is advisable, and has the further ad- 
vantage of being directly injurious to the larve. Thick 
sowing is recommended, as part of the crop usually 
escapes, unless the larve are excessively numerous; but 
it brings with it serious drawbacks. Ducks have been 
employed with advantage to reduce the numbers of 
larvæ, and have, at times, saved the crops; but they 
are apt to suffer from eating the larve in quantities, 
becoming affected with diarrhoea, and getting very thin. 
TURNIP-SEED WEEVIL (Ceuthorhynchus as- 
similis). A small Weevil, closely related to, and very 
much like, the gall-makers of the same genus (C. sulcicollis), 
known as Cabbage Gall or Turnip Gall Weevils 
(which see). It differs from the latter in the grey colour 
due to the pale hairs or scales scattered all over its dark 
body, and in the hinder thighs not being toothed on the 
inner side; and it is also slightly smaller. Its life-history 
is as follows: The Beetles usually emerge from the pups 
in autumn; they pass the winter in shelter, and may be 
found, in spring and early summer, on flowers of Cabbages, 
Turnips, and other cultivated or wild Cruciferm, feeding 
upon the flowers. The females lay their eggs in the 
immature fruits; and the larve feed on the seeds, and, 
when full-fed, bore out of the seed-vessels, fall to the ` 
ground, and burrow into it, there to become pups. ` 
Remedies must be confined to the capture of the Beetles, - 
by nets or otherwise, on the flowers, since the habits of 
the larve, and the situation of the pups, almost preclude 
other means of capturing them freely. _ 
