THE CARNATION MANUAL. 185 



the presence of the enemy, when the eye has failed 

 to discover him. 



After a time the maggot turns into a chrysaUs ; 

 his power for mischief is then at an end, and 

 many plants are thus saved. 



The most important point of all is to catch him 

 in the leaf before he gets into a shoot, but to do 

 this requires an amount of care and time which 

 few persons are able to bestow. 



When plants are found to be infested with them 

 they should be gone over daily until the plague is 

 stayed. 



When in the leaf, before they have got into a 

 main shoot, they are so small as to be scarcely 

 visible. 



Wireworms. — These are well-known enemies of 

 the Carnation and Picotee ; and are well known to 

 gardeners under this name. They are the larvae of 

 certain beetles belonging to the family Elateridcv. 

 The beetles are known under the popular names of 

 the Skipjack, Snap Beetle and Click Beetle. The 

 most hurtful species are Agriotes lineatus, A. 

 ohscuTus and A. sjyutator. The beetles themselves 

 are quite harmless ; but the damage done by the 

 larvae is beyond computation. In the larval 

 condition they remain in the ground for a period 

 of from three to five years. A full-grown specimen 

 of the larvse is about an inch in length of a clear 

 brownish-yellow colour. The skin is smooth, 



