THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 387 
happened to the crop in Northumberland :—“ The ordinary 
turnip-fly was prevalent over all this district, with scarcely 
an exception, last summer. Its ravages weré greater, and it 
continued them for a longer time, than I ever remember. In 
ordinary years it has generally attacked turnips—Swedes, 
especially—which have been sown early, and where the soil 
has not been in the most perfect tilth. This was not the 
case this season; the plants came away very well, and at 
first appeared to grow vigorously; when they were attacked 
by the fly, and withered off, leaving long stalks in many 
instances; the frosty nights completing the destruction. 
The flies continued to sweep off every fresh sowing,—one, 
two, three, and sometimes even four,—even after the middle 
of June, at which period we have, hitherto, always found the 
plants safe. Most of the Swedes were destroyed. I havea 
very few of the second sowing which escaped. The white 
turnip and hybrids that succeeded were also two or three 
times sown, and afterwards came away vigorously; and 
hereabouts have done well, mainly owing to the showers in 
August.” 
The turnip leaves were remarkably free from caterpillars ; 
even the small caterpillar of the diamond moth was absent. 
In a few spots bordering the outcrop of rocks, which had 
supplied secure breeding places, I had a space of several 
yards breadth entirely eaten off by earwigs. They stripped 
the leaves, after the plants were thinned, leaving only the 
skeleton ribs; weeds and potatoes all went in the same way ; 
till some change took place, perhaps the acquisition of wings 
by the young broods, when the nuisance abated. They fed 
only at night, and used to hide during the day in the soil, 
the fork at the tail being visible here and there at the 
surface, or clustered under clods and small stones. The 
workers killed numbers with their hoes; and for a few days 
the rooks and jackdaws held a high feast over the spot. 
This happened also at the sunny-side of stone walls, the 
turnip leaves being holed for some distance off. 
But a still worse source of mischief lurked in some of the 
fields, and began to develop itself to an enormous extent 
towards autumn, viz., the turnip louse, or Aphis, of which 
a notice was given in the Club’s ‘ Proceedings’ of last year. 
I first noticed them here among the Swedes (Aphis Brassice 
