372 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



recent Committee. In order to obtain more evidence, either 

 for or against the theory that the beetle was alone responsible 

 for the damage, a circular was issued in January 1909 asking for 

 reports from correspondents regarding the extent to which 

 their moors had suffered from diseased heather, and requesting 

 samples to be sent for examination. Typical examples of 

 " frosted " heather were received from many sources, and it is 

 important to note that in every case where the shoots had changed 

 colour the leaves had undoubtedly been nibbled by some insect, 

 this being easily shown by examination with a hand lens. 

 Not only were the bases and edges of the leaves eaten, but in 

 many cases all the leaf had disappeared except the mid-rib, 

 which remained as a kind of bristle on the shoot. The speci- 

 mens furnished absolute proof that the rusty red withered 

 appearance is associated with, if not entirely due to, the attack 

 of some insect, presumably the beetle referred to above, and 

 which we now call the heather beetle. 



In order to ascertain if the beetle was actually present in 

 the samples of heather sent not by any means an easy matter 

 the following plan was devised by which the little creature could 

 be made to show itself. As all the samples were sent between 

 the months of October and February it appeared probable that 

 the insects, if present at all, would be in the mature stage. 

 In all likelihood, too, they would be in a hibernating condition 

 somewhere about the roots or surface of the soil. As it was 

 impossible to find them without tearing to fine pieces every 

 cubic inch of soil a most laborious task each block of soil, 

 with heather attached, was soaked for several hours in water, 

 gradually increasing the depth of the water until the actual 

 shoots of the heather were submerged. The result was very 

 interesting. In every case a beetle appeared a few minutes 

 after the sod had been placed in water to be followed every 

 few seconds by another, and so on till they had all been driven 

 out. In this way sixteen samples of diseased heather were 

 examined, and only two of them failed to yield specimens of 

 the beetle ; these failures may probably be attributed to the 



