GROUND BEETLES. 67 



" deeply and carefully," he found beetles near to almost every bitten- 

 off plant. 



This agrees with a note of observation sent me regarding day 

 shelter of Ground Beetles in the case of Strawberry attack : — " The 

 beetles lie round the plant and under the earth, which is covered with 

 straw and litter, having their holes and runs through the earth and 

 litter, the opening being through the litter and just under the bunch 

 of fruit attacked." 



Whether this habit can be utilized for remedial measures in the 

 case of Mangolds does not as yet appear. The beetles might presum- 

 ably be disturbed by hoeing or other agricultural treatment that would 

 go deep enough, and in the case of grubs, or caterpillars, might be 

 hand-picked, or left to be cleared by birds. But the Ground Beetles, 

 with their long and strong legs and power of speedy running, would 

 conceal themselves again in the disturbed soil before there would be a 

 chance of catching any number worth the trouble. 



In the case of Harpahts ruficoniis, a nearly allied and exceedingly 

 injurious kind of Ground Beetle (figured under the heading of attack 

 to Strawberries, further on), I found specimens which I kept under 

 observation were pairing about July 20th. It might certainly be 

 presumed that these would shortly lay eggs, and the larvae (which are 

 mostly found in the same places as the perfect insects) would soon be 

 found in the ground, and probably those of the other Ground Beetles. 



As yet we appear not to have descriptions of their appearance 

 beyond that of the geodephagous larvae generally. These are described 

 as being usually flat, long, parallel-sided, fleshy, with the head and 

 next segment hard. The three pairs of legs horny, the jaws strong 

 and sickle-shaped, and the caudal extremity furnished above usually 

 with two horny or fleshy appendages, and the lower part lengthened 

 into a kind of " membranous supplemental leg." 



The ordinary agricultural treatment of breaking up the ground 

 after the Mangolds have been drawn would probably be about as good 

 a course as could be followed for getting rid of a large proportion of 

 the maggots that were in the land, but we need to know how, in the 

 case of the three wingless kinds of Ground Beetles mentioned above, 

 they become present on land not for some years previously to the 

 attack recorded under Mangolds. 



The maggots appear to feed on animal substances, grubs, worms, 

 &c., such as were at one time supposed to constitute almost entirely 

 the dietary of the beetles, and as such food is to be found in farm 

 manure, it is certainly open to conjecture that they may be carried in 

 it to the field. 



At present, however, much more information on the winter 

 qviarters and other points of the life-history is needed before we can 



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