"OLD FATHER LONG LEGS." 127 



derness were entirely destroyed by it, being 

 rendered as completely brown as if they had suf- 

 fered a three months' drought, and no other vege- 

 tation but that of a few thistles was left on land, 

 which, at more favoured periods, was more than 

 commonly luxuriant. On a square foot of the turf 

 being dug up from the affected spot, the enormous 

 number of two hundred and ten larvae was counted 

 in it. Fortunately, the next year showed a very 

 different result, for then it was difficult on careful 

 search to find one ! In some districts of France 

 it is also very destructive, the grass of large tracts 

 being so completely destroyed by it, that enough 

 food for the maintenance of the cattle is not to 

 be obtained. These larvae, like the last-named, 

 appear to destroy by eating away the roots of the 

 grass. From these and the foregoing facts, ento- 

 mology teaches us to regard these two insects, 

 upon which we commonly look with compassion, 

 as occasionally becoming the formidable, though 

 indirect, enemies of man. The scientific name for 

 " Father Long-legs" is Tipula oleracea. The 

 French call them oddly enough milliners, or 

 tailors, (couturier es, tailleurs^) a name of which it is 

 harder to guess the origin than the common one of 



