CHAPTER XIX 



THE HEATHER BEETLE 



By Percy H. Grimshaiv 



Part I.^On "Frosted" Heather and its Connection tvith the Heather 



Beetle, Lochmpea suturalis. 



For a long time the attention of many proprietors of Grouse moors and their 

 keepers has been directed to the fact that large patches of heather, varying in 

 size from a few yards square to hundreds, or even thousands, of acres, have turned 

 a rusty red or withered grey colour, and have become useless as food for Grouse. 

 In the districts which suffered most from this condition large numbers of the 

 Grouse have left the affected area and migrated to neighbouring moors where 

 the heather was in a healthy state. 



Not only does the shooting value of such a moor become thus seriously 

 impaired, but the health of the birds themselves is affected. Although there does 

 not as yet appear to be any direct connection between the diseased state of 

 the heather and " Grouse Disease," inasmuch as the birds have been proved 

 not to eat the withered shoots, yet the deficiency of food on an affected 

 moor undoubtedly results in a weak state of health, rendering the Grouse 

 less fit to resist the attacks of tapeworms and other parasites, or to combat 

 disease of any kind whatsoever. 



It is, therefore, of the utmost importance to ascertain, if possible, the exact 

 cause of this blighted condition of the heather, and to devise some practical 

 remedy. 



During the progress of this Inquiry many letters have been received by 



the Committee which serve to show the great extent of heather affected in 



various parts of the country. Diseased heather has been reported from moors 



in the counties of Nairn, Perth, Inverness, Argyll, Ayr, Lanark, Kirkcudbright, 



Dumfries, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Fife, Cumberland, Yorkshire, and Montgomery. 



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