BEETLES, OR COLEOPTERA. 



469 



teristics to the fire beetle of the tropics, which carries its two beau- 

 tiful and curious lights in its thorax. 



My figure is again taken, with the kind permission of Messrs. Blackie, 

 from the great work of Curtis, "On Insects injurious to the Farmer." 

 Fig. 1037, Nos. 7, 8, and 9, shows the wire-worm ; the cylindrical form 

 being a striking characteristic. They are stated to live in this con- 

 dition for five years; they then assume the pupa form (No. 10), and 

 Nos. 2, 3, and 6 show them, magnified, in the perfect state. 



The Asparagus Beetle (Crioceris asparagi) is an example of a nume- 

 rous genus, which sometimes is very injurious to the asparagus plants. 



All gardens, and mine consequently included, are infested with a 

 beetle minute in size, but of great importance on account of the 

 damage which it effects. In common language it is called the Turnip 

 Fly, or Turnip Flea (fig. 1038), but by the scientific entomologist it 

 is designated as the Altica 

 nemorum. The eggs (Nos. 4 

 and 5) are small ; the maggots 

 (Nos. 8 and 9) burrow in the 

 leaf (No. 7) ; the cuticle then 

 withers and dies (No. 6), and 

 in about six days the maggots 

 turn into chrysalises (Nos. 10 

 and n, magnified), which in 

 about two weeks change into 

 minute beetles (No. I, magnified), of the size represented (Nos. 2 and 3). 

 The perfect insect, although so minute, is remarkable for its power 

 of jumping at least eighteen inches. The turnip fly is so terribly 

 destructive that, according to Curtis, the damage it did to the 

 turnip crop in one year, in Devonshire alone, was estimated at 

 ioo,ooo/. In the garden many a crop of turnips, cabbages, cauli- 

 flowers, and other allied plants, is totally destroyed in the seed-bed. 

 No certain mode of destroying this insect is yet known, but inactivity 

 of the plants certainly leads to their injury, and a rapid growth as 

 surely promotes their safety ; hence it is of the utmost importance 



FIG. 1038. Turnip Fly. 



