94 



BEETLES. 



and loss they cause to the country are beyond calcu- 

 lation. 



The Wh-eworms will feed on the roots of almost all 

 farm crops excepting Mustard, which they frequently 

 have been found to avoid, and live lor five years before 



Fig. 77. — Click Beetles and Wireworms : 1 and 2, Elater Uneatus ; 

 H and 4, E. obscuriis ; 5 and C, E. Kpiitator, nat. size and magnified; 

 7, Wireworm of E. ><putator ? 8 and 9, Wireworm of E. Uneatus, nat. 

 size and magnified ; 10, back of pupa of Wireworm. Lines show nat. 

 length. 



they cease eating to turn to chrysalids, and thence to 

 Click Beetles. They are of the shape figured, and 

 commonly of a j^ellowish colour, and take their name 

 from their great likeness to a short thick piece of 

 flattened wire. The Click Beetles are of many kinds 

 (see above figure), commonly about a quarter to half 

 an inch long, and about a third of that in breadth (of 

 the shape figured), and of a brownish colour, though 

 sometimes of a beautiful red, and take their name 

 from their power of regaining their position when laid 

 on their backs by a sudden jerk or skip up in the air, 

 accompanied by a click. 



The female Beetle lays her eggs on, or a little below 

 the surface of the ground, amongst leafage or roots, 



