130 INSECTS AT HOME. 



Oil Woodcut XIII. Fig. e, is drawn the larva of this species, 

 which some of my readers will probably recognise as the Wire- 

 worm. The fact is, there are many Wire-worms, the larvse of 

 several species of Skipjack Beetles being called by this con- 

 venient name. They are termed Wire-worms for two reasons — 

 first, because they are long and narrow, seeming to be drawn 

 out, as it were, like wire ; and, secondly, because tliey are 

 tough and hard-skinned, so that a roller passing over them 

 does them no manner of harm, but only squeezes them into the 

 soil, as if they were so many jDieces of wire. 



Some of these larvae commit terrible ravages among the crops, 

 feeding upon the roots, and so remaining themselves hidden 

 while their ravenous jaws are destroying the very life of the 

 plants. There are few things which irritate an agriculturist 

 more than such a foe as this. He makes up his mind to the 

 caterpillar, the turnip-fly, the snail, and other creatures which 

 devour the plant itself. They at least can be seen while 

 eating, however closely they may conceal themselves at other 

 times, and the amount of food which they take is proportionate 

 to the mischief which they do. But the Wire-worm wastes and 

 eats in concealment, and, while it only eats one-tenth the 

 amount of that consumed by a caterpillar of equal size, destroy? 

 ten times the number of plants. Various projects have been 

 set on foot for extirpating the Wire-worm, but I hear of no 

 plan that has succeeded except that provided by Nature, 

 namely, the fondness of certain birds for the Wire-worm. Mr. 

 Westwood mentions that even pheasants are useful to the 

 farmer in this respect, their crops having been found stuffed 

 with Wire-worms. There are very few plants or flowers which 

 this voracious insect will not attack, and the gardener as well 

 as the farmer is therefore interested in the Skipjack Beetles 

 and their progeny. 



The mole is a great eater of Wire-worms, as it finds them 

 near the surface, and can take them while making the super- 

 ficial burrows which it often excavates within an inch or two 

 of the surface of the ground. It is stated that this destruc- 

 tive larva remains five years in the ground before assuming the 

 pupal stage, so that we ought to encourage as far as possible 

 jvery creature which assists in keeping down its numbers. 



