1386 PICTORIAL PRACTICAL CARNATION GROWING. 
giving the points of the shoots a gentle pull. The latter step often 
detects the presence of the enemy when no external sign is visible. 
When plants are found to be infested they should be gone over 
daily, and the maggots extracted. A lens is useful, as the pests are 
so small as to be scarcely visible while in the leaf. 
The maggot, which is yellowish white, varies in size from +, to 
3 inch in length; it is legless, pointed at the head end, and blunt at 
the tail. When full fed the maggot leaves the plant to change to 
a pupa in the earth, somewhat oval in shape, thickest at the head 
end, of a medium shade of brown, and with the spiracles still 
projecting, and two little knobs at the tip of the tail. From the 
pupa the fly emerges in about a month. Outdoors the maggot ceases 
feeding in April or May, and in the latter month it leaves the plant 
to turn to a pupa, and by the end of May has changed to a complete 
pupa or so called chrysalid, the fly emerging at the end of June or 
beginning of July. Under glass the maggot is found at almost all 
seasons, 
VII.—Wireworms. 
The larvae or grubs of the beetles known under the popular names 
of skipjack or click beetle are well known enemies of Carnations. The 
most hurtful species are Elater (Agriotes) lineatus, E. obscurus, and 
E. sputator. The most common is the first named. 
The beetles are harmless, but the damage done by the larvae or 
grubs is immense. In the larval stage they remain in the ground for 
a period of from three to five years, and are often found in turfy 
loam, vegetable earth, and dung, in one or other of which they are 
probably introduced to Carnations, especially in the case of those 
grown in pots and in beds of prepared compost. The larva of the 
common click beetle is about 1 inch in length when full grown, and 
of a clear brownish yellow colour. Its skin is smooth, tough, and 
hard, and feels between the finger and thumb like a piece of wire; 
hence the name wireworm. 
It often happens that the wireworm attacks recently planted 
layers or even whilst they are rooting, taking advantage of the callus 
ANIMAL ENEMIES. FIG. 65 (NEXT PAGE).—WIREWORM. 
J,a young plant infested by wireworm: i, root system quite clear ; 7, stem ; 
k, collar; J, the upper leaves puny and stunted and the top gradually 
dwindling; m, hole in the stem at the top of the slit made in tonguing 
the layer; », portion of stem sliced off; 0, tunnel made by the wire- 
worm; #, Wireworm in sifu. 
K, a young plant established in a bed and attacked by wireworm: q, roots; 
r, stem; s, collar; ¢, side shoots or grass; wu, central growth not 
developed; v, points where roots have been eaten through; w, roots 
gnawed and injured; z,a wireworm eating at the roots and passing 
between the woody tissue and the bark; y, a wireworm eating into the 
stem just below the collar. 
L, Click or skipjack beetle, Elater, syn: Agriotes, lineatus: z, an adult, 
natural size and magnified; a, larva, called wireworm ; J, pupa. 
