DADDY LONGLEGS. 



65 



Daddy Longlegs. Tipula oleracea, Liun. (and other species). 



Daddy Longlegs {Tiinda oleracea) : eggs, grub, and chrysalis. 



The flies commonly known by the name of Daddy Longlegs, 

 or Crane Flies, which develop from the grubs known as 

 " Leather-jackets," are to be seen in multitudes, especially in 

 autumn, in neglected grassy spots, meadows, and Clover-leas, 

 and also on marshy ground, where they deposit their eggs, 

 and are the cause of enormous damage to Corn and many 

 other crops both of garden and field, in consequence of the 

 grubs gnawing the young plant just below the surface of the 

 ground, and thereby destroying it totally or lessening the yield. 



The female Tipula oleracea, lays her eggs (mainly during 

 autumn) in the ground, or on the surface, or on damp grass 

 or leafage close to the surface of the ground. These eggs are 

 small, black, and shiny, so small and so numerous that as 

 many as three hundred are to be found in one female, form- 

 ing a mass which occupies nearly the whole of the abdomen. 



The grubs which hatch from these eggs are cylindrical, 

 legless, wrinkled across, of a dirty greyish or brown colour, 

 the tint of which may vary considerably ; I have seen them 

 of a deep blackish colour when from peaty land. When full- 

 grown they are about an inch to an inch and a half long, and 

 about two-thirds of the thickness of a common pen-quill. 

 Their little black horny heads, which can be protruded at 

 pleasure, are furnished with a pair of strong black jaws, and 

 bear a pair of minute horns ; the tail-extremity is cut short off, 

 and bears four tubercles above and two below. From the great 



