422 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



under the frosted plants ; and if they are, there is no doubt of the cause 

 of the blight. I am afraid it is only a severe winter which w^ill do us 

 any good." 



(qq) " Regarding the ravages of the heather beetle, there is no appear- 

 ance of it in this district at present. Several years ago I saw a large patch 

 of heather affected as described in your circular, but burned the whole of 

 it at once. I knew it was the work of some insect, but I saw no more of it." 



(rr) " We are still finding heather destroyed by grub, but only in small 

 patches. ... It is in the spring, I think, when the harm is done, and we 

 arrange to have most of the diseased part burned as early as possible." 



(ss) " Am not aware of much damage to heather here, nor have I ever 

 noticed any, except in the times when snow lay in sheltered parts for a 

 fortnight or over ; after the snow had gone the heather came back to its former 

 colour. In this locality I do not think the beetle does any damage." 



(tt) " I see we have several patches showing heather beetle ; we have a 

 moss about 1,000 acres and only 15 feet above sea -level; this moss is at 

 least one mile away from high tide mark, so the damage is not due to the 

 effects of sea spray. I see no signs of it on the higher ground." 



On referring to the extracts here given (marked a to tt) the reader will gather 

 that the damage is usually noticed between the months of April and August. 

 As will be seen later, when the life history of the beetle is dealt with, these 

 months are exactly those in which the beetle may be presumed to be in the 

 egg and larval stages ; fully fed larvso are to be obtained in September, while 

 the mature beetle hibernates during the winter, and has been noted on the wing 

 in April and May (see extracts bb and gg). They would presumably pair and 

 lay eggs in one or other of these two spring months, the egg state would only 

 occupy a few days at most, and the larva would feed during the whole of the 

 summer months. In most cases where the diseased heather has been examined 

 ill situ the beetles or their larvse (according to the time of year) have been 

 noted as numerous, and these observations form an interesting supplement 

 to the figures actually obtained by experiment. 



The districts from which damage from heather beetle is most commonly 

 reported are those situated on the west coast of Scotland lying to the south 

 of Oban. In Argyll, Ayr, Lanark, and Cumberland the pest is well known, whereas 

 on the extensive moors in the northern and central Highlands of Scotland it is 

 practically never heard of. It would appear therefore that the insect flourishes 



