BEET CARRION BEETLE. 15 
occurred. This year the grubs have cleared the whole crop. They 
not only devoured the Mangolds as soon as they appeared above 
ground, but they also fell upon the Spurrey (Spergula arvensis), with 
which the field is infested, and now that very little of this is left they 
have attacked the Potatoes, the first row of which adjoining the Man- 
golds in the same field is a good deal eaten. They appear to prefer 
the Mangolds and the Spurrey, but there is no doubt of the fact of 
their eating the Potato in case of need; I myself saw three or four 
in the act. I learn from enquiry that two farms in the immediate 
neighbourhood have similarly suffered, but only in a comparatively 
slight degree. In my case I think the eggs were probably carried 
to the field in the farmyard manure which was brought from Bat- 
worthy.”—(F. N. B.) 
This matter is of considerable interest, as hitherto Potatoes have 
been reported as among crops not liable to be attacked by this infesta- 
tion, and consequently available for ground known (or supposed) to be 
infested. In Curtis’s ‘ Farm Insects,’ p. 389, Potatoes are mentioned, 
together with Turnips, Peas, and Beans, and likewise Carrots, Parsnips, 
and Swedish Turnips, as crops that were uninjured where Mangold- 
wurzel in the same fields was attacked; and in my own Annual 
Reports * I find no mention of attack either to Potatoes or the crops 
mentioned above or Cabbage, which are all noted as succeeding 
‘‘admirably well’’ on land where Mangolds were destroyed, or to the 
field weed known as Spurrey (Spergula arvensis). 
It is certainly an unfortunate thing that a pest which has the 
power of sweeping off Mangold and Beet crops, by its grubs completely 
devouring the young leafage, should have thus established itself in the 
small area known to be infested; but we do not seem to have made 
any advance in means of getting rid of it. Details of its life-history 
will be found in Reports referred to in note; and Mr. Sym Scott’s 
observations, and considerations of preventive measures based on habits, 
given at pp. 94-96 of my Twelfth Report, are well worth study. 
The grub (as will be noticed in the figure, p. 14) is very peculiar in 
shape from its general likeness to a rather large, blackish woodlouse. 
Some, as figured in outline, are of a narrower shape. The beetle is 
flattish, brown-black, and with three raised lines along the wing-cases. 
The method of life is for the grubs to feed on the young Mangold 
leafage, especially (according to Mr. Sym Scott’s careful observations) 
at night, or when the leafage is damp, going down into the ground in 
the heat of the day, and when the leaves were eaten off (as occurs in 
bad attack) the maggot was found to gnaw off ‘the tender root about 
a quarter of an inch below the surface of the drill.” 
* See Highth, Twelfth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth Reports on Injurious 
Insects by Editor. 
