98 INSECT PESTS 



are thirty or more segments to the body, each bearing 

 two pairs of legs, an important distinction between this 

 pest and the centipedes, which are in many ways bene- 

 ficial. It is pale yellow in colour, and curls up like a 

 watch-spring when disturbed, being slow moving and 

 sluggish in habit. MilHpedes are encouraged where 

 ground is neglected, and bad cultivation has been allowed. 

 The allotment holder must therefore act the pohceman 

 so far as Millipedes are concerned, and by the aid of a 

 hoe, persist in his " pass along please " until, like 

 Weary Willie and Tired Tim, they move off muttering 

 somewhere else. If this is not enough, powdered naphtha- 

 lene should be tried, or potato traps, afterwards boUed 

 and given to the fowls. Poisoned potato traps should 

 never be employed, in my opinion, as it is quite unneces- 

 sary and they cannot then be used for the poultry. 



We now pass to Beetles. As was stated at the com- 

 mencement, beetles and their larvae are found everywhere 

 and in all circumstances, so we need not be surprised to 

 find that the soil has its Coleopterous denizens, both 

 beneficial and otherwise. The outstanding example of 

 the " otherwise " is of course the Wire worm, which is 

 so notorious that plenty of damage of which he is inno- 

 cent has been attributed to him. " Give a dog a bad 

 name and you may as well hang him." In this case, 

 however, a great deal of the opprobrium is well deserved. 



The CHck or Skipjack Beetle, as this insect is called 

 when full grown, from its habit of clicking its abdomen 

 against the top of the thorax, and so turning a somersault, 

 belongs to the genus Elateridse, which include the fireflies 

 of tropical countries. There are several EngHsh species, 

 all very similar and all known in their larval state as 

 wireworms. Two only need be mentioned — Agriotes 

 lineatus and Athous hcemorrJioidalis. Their history is as 

 follows. Eggs are laid during the summer months on 

 pasture land, beneath the roots of which the resultant 

 wireworms feed and travel about in the soil for as long 



